Nanotechnology Blog

In yesterday’s blog, the topic of 3-D printing was raised.  The blog finished with the promise that today we would cover the 3-D printing application to food.  Isn’t this the concept of the “Food Replicators” in Star Trek?  Even if one could create food, wouldn’t it require all types of material control to ensure the “food” was safe?  Is it even possible to create food through printing?

Let’s start simply.  The picture below is different structures created from printing sugar [1].  Sugar is a good material to work with 3-D printing due to the ability to be able to form it as long as there is a slight amount of moisture.  These structures are impossible to make by etching sugar away from a block due to the inherent weakness of the sugar cube.

Okay, sugar is a simple construct, but it is a part of food that we use.  So the next question is can anyone make “real” food that requires cooking or baking?  The picture below is of a finished cake, which was baked, that has designs printed into the dough prior to being baked [2].

Chocolates have been done and can be formed in many different shapes.  Other cakes have been created that only reveal the true design when they are cut and show letters imbedded within the cake.  So the response is that is interesting, but how about the more difficult foods.  The picture below is based on a new texture of corn dough developed by David Arnold of the International Culinary Centering using a technique created at Cornell University.  The process makes the corn dough porous, which allows the oil in a hot fryer to reach within the object [3].

What does the future look like?  This still is not the Food Replicator that Star Trek has.  The answer is of course not, at least not yet.  In March 2013, the Small Business Innovative Research award was given to Systems and Materials Research Consultancy in Austin Texas to continue development of the basic elements of such a system.  The following description is from reference 4.

• Using unflavored macronutrients, such as protein, starch and fat, the sustenance portion of the diet can be rapidly produced in a variety of shapes and textures directly from the 3D printer (already warm). Since basic sustenance will not ensure the long term physical and mental health of the crew, this is where the microjetting will add value. In addition to adding flavor, low volume micronutrients will be added as the food is processed by the 3D printer.
• The macronutrient feed stocks will be stored in dry sterile containers and fed directly to the printer. At the print head, these stocks will be combined with water or oil per a digital recipe to minimize waste and spoilage. Flavors and texture modifiers can also be added at this stage. This mixture is blended and extruded into the desired shape.
• The micronutrients and flavors are stored in sterile packs as liquids, aqueous solutions or dispersions. SMRC’s approach not only addresses uniform long term storage, sustenance, and micro-nutrition, but also variable and changing dietary needs, variety, and boredom.

So what does printing food have to do with nanotechnology?  Actually, there are a number of similarities required for control of the basic constituent parts of each.  The first item is the control of the materials.  There is a need for verification of the material properties, size, purity, etc.  The quality control and record keeping will be critical to ensuring the end result is what it is required to be.  There is also the training involved, the specialized equipment, the storage of the materials, and many other items.  But, what is needed for nanomaterials, is also required for materials that will end up as food.

There is much more to this topic, but I will leave you to think about the beginnings of this emerging area of scientific (and gastronomical) endeavor.  There is additional work being done in this area that may provide enough material for a blog in 2014.

References:

[1]       http://www.wired.com/design/2013/06/sugar-lab-prints-sweet-sculptures/

[2]      Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=i6XASxni0I0  & http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XQni3wb0tyM

[3]      http://spectrum.ieee.org/consumer-electronics/gadgets/adventures-in-printing-food

[4]      http://sbir.gsfc.nasa.gov/SBIR/abstracts/12/sbir/phase1/SBIR-12-1-H12.04-9357.html?solicitationId=SBIR_12_P1

As the close of 2013 occurs, this blog will be looking toward next year.  3-D printing has become a very widely reported topic, not only in technical circles but also in financial ones.  Why is it being mentioned in a nano blog?  The reason is that everything points to printing on the nano-scale in the not too distant future.  Current limits for accuracy are 16 micrometers or 16,000 nanometers.

3-D printing is an additive manufacturing technique that can make a 3-D solid of almost any shape from a computer model.  The equipment lays./deposits/positions successive layers of liquid, powder, or other material to build a structure from a series of volume cross-sections.  The resultant structure matches the computer model within the placement accuracy of the equipment.  This technology is currently employed in both prototyping and manufacturing.  There are a number of relatively inexpensive 3-D printers available, which are available in the cost range of a powerful home computer. The higher accuracy ones with faster build times can be as high as $1 million or more.  These techniques are being employed for manufacturing improved parts for consumer products.

So how does this impact nanotechnology?  The picture shows the results of an experimental process that created the model, which is only 500 micrometers long.  The printer can produced a hardened 5 meter line of resin in 1 second [Ref. 1].

Current applications of 3-D printing include dental implants, medical prosthetics, jewelry, footwear, and automotive parts.  The ‘Urbee’ was made using a special printer which built up layer upon layer of bodywork – almost as if the car was ‘painted’ into existence, except using layers of ultra-thin composite that are slowly ‘fused’ into a solid [2].

With the coming of printers to the hobbyist, the ability to make replacement item will be accepted as normal, which might have an impact of suppliers carrying spare parts.  The question that needs to be considered is can we also “replicate” food through the 3-D process.  Tomorrow’s blog will address that topic.

References:

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5y0j191H0kY

[2] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2041106/Urbee-The-worlds-printed-car-rolling-3D-printing-presses-.html

Business and Nanomaterials

The fourth pillar of Nanotechnology Safety is the Business Focus. The business aspect is the most important for the development and commercialization of nanotechnology.  The benefits of avoiding litigation provide businesses the incentive to implement the best practices for their workers’ safety. Establishing practices that minimize risk, creating training, developing controls, and ensuring worker safety require an established methodology based on the knowledge of the science and technology on nanomaterials.

The business aspect of the manufacture and application of nanotechnology requires an evaluation of the responsibility of the organization for the safety of its workers and products. Businesses must have procedures and plans for NANO-SAFETY. Some existing programs can be expanded and developed to provide the basis for this focus. Recommendation: NANO-SAFETY needs to be available on at least two levels.

At the corporate level, Risk Management is critical to understand the issues and concerns. There is a need for an Environmental Risk Management approach that incorporates educational efforts directed at developing educated workers.  The development of the educational curriculum is not straightforward.  It is a case of one-size does not fit all.  It is important to address the needs of the industries which will draw employees from the graduates of the program developed.   This can be difficult to accomplish if there are a number of startups.  Typically, the early stage companies do not understand what their needs are.

The next level is the development of a program for NANO-SAFETY is to create the capability of preforming reviews at companies, laboratories, and medical institutions. This program needs to build on the existing efforts at major universities, like Rice University, Texas State University, and University of Texas at Tyler.

There have been some initial efforts created to address the issue of adequately covering the various aspects of nanotechnology safety to ensure that the graduates of the program are skilled in addressing whatever situation may arise.  In many cases, organizations consider addressing these issues by focusing on the nanotechnology toxicity issues.  These are important issues, but, in my opinion inadequate to truly address the needs of the technology.  It is important to know the toxicity of the nanomaterials; however, some studies to verify effects on humans can take many years.  What is needed is a methodology to handle materials without being able to fully understand the possible impact of exposure to the materials.

The response of some individuals is that if we can’t determine the effects, then we should not work with the material.  Consider the training of firefighters. In many situations, the first responders to a fire/explosion do not know what exactly the cause was or what materials are on fire.  Using the approach suggested by the previously referred to individuals, the solution is to tell the firefighters to just let it burn because the material might be dangerous.

That is not the method employed for training firefighters.  They are given sufficient information to classify the type of fire and determine what precautions need to be taken.  The same situation is true with training in nanotechnology safety.  There are general classes of situations that can be determined and the proper procedure for addressing the issues implemented.  Currently, these procedures/guidelines do not exist.  There are developments being made under an award from the National Science Foundation to create modular courses to address the proper training of handling nanomaterials in a manner that ensures NANO-SAFETY for both people and the environment.

More on the educational developments next week.