Abstract
Natural wood has served as a foundational material for buildings, furniture, and architectural structures for millennia, typically shaped through subtractive manufacturing techniques. However, this process often generates substantial wood waste, leading to material inefficiency and increased production costs. A potential opportunity arises if complex wood structures can be created through additive processes. Here, we demonstrate an additive-free, water-based ink made of lignin and cellulose, the primary building blocks of natural wood, that can be used to three-dimensional (3D) print architecturally designed wood structures via direct ink writing. The resulting printed structures, after heat treatment, closely resemble the visual, textural, olfactory, and macro-anisotropic properties, including mechanical properties, of natural wood. Our results pave the way for 3D-printed wooden construction with a sustainable pathway to upcycle/recycle natural wood.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | eadk3250 |
| Journal | Science Advances |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 15 2024 |
Funding
A.K.N. and L.T.K. acknowledge support from the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences, and Engineering Division under FWP ERKCK60. Acknowledgments: We thank A. Z. Khater for suggestions and J. li for help with the art in Figure 1. We also thank R. Purvis, Moody center for the Arts, Rice University, for help with making the molds for hot-pressing samples. We acknowledge the support of the Rice University Shared equipment Authority for using the helios SeM, AReS G2 Rheometer, and the FreeZone 4.5 liter Benchtop Freeze dry System; and the Rice University Materials Science and nanoengineering department for continual support. Funding: A.K.n. and l.T.K. acknowledge support from the U.S. department of energy, Office of Science, Basic energy Sciences, Materials Sciences, and engineering division under FWP eRKcK60. Author contributions: M.M.R. and M.S.h.T. conceived the concept and designed the experiments. M.S.h.T. and c.S. did the fabrication, postprocessing, compression tests, and characterizations. P.M.A. assisted in providing facilities and scientific discussion. l.T.K. and A.K.n. provided the lignin and conducted WAXS and softening point characterization. l.T.K. also carried out the flexure tests.