Partial photo: Junko Nakase
3D printing can be used to make a tough, sustainable material from algae that could be used to make clothes and labels that would be photosynthetic, absorbing CO2 from the air and breathing out oxygen just like plants. The biodegradable material is easy to make on a large scale. Manufacturing clothes currently results in more carbon emissions than aviation and shipping combined, uses enormous amounts of water, and produces toxic wastewater and microplastic pollution. Over three-fifths of garments end up landfills or incinerators within a few years. Using bacterial cellulose as the paper, and an ink made of live microalgae, researchers employed a 3D printer to deposit the living algae onto the cellulose. The material combines the toughness of the bacterial cellulose with the photosynthetic ability of algae.
www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2021/05/algae-could-help-make-the-fashion-industry-green/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=algae-could-help-make-the-fashion-industry-green&utm_source=Anthropocene&utm_campaign=02a2764c54-Anthropocene+science+to+AM&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ececcea89a-02a2764c54-294331733
Source: Srikkanth Balasubramanian et al. Bioprinting of Regenerative Photosynthetic Living Materials. Advanced Functional Materials, 2021.