IM20205EN

Volume 5 2020

LUCA: A CAR MADE OF RECYCLED WASTE 3D PRINTING MULTI-MATERIALS FLAX FIBRE COMPOSITES IN F1 BRICK AWARD 2020 MARINE SPONGES INSPIRE NEXT GENERATION CONSTRUCTION WIRELESS AQUATIC ROBOT COULD CLEAN WATER

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CONTENT About

Innovatieve Materialen (Innovative Materials) is a digital, independent magazine about material innovation in the fields of engineering, construction (buildings, infrastructure and industrial) and industrial design.

A digital subscribtion in 2020 (6 editions) costs € 39,50 (excl. VAT) Members of KIVI and students: € 25,- (excl. VAT)

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Publisher

Gerard van Nifterik

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Innovative Materials platform: Dr. ir. Fred Veer, prof. ir. Rob Nijsse (Glass & Transparency Research Group, TU Delft), dr. Bert van Haastrecht (M2I), prof. Wim Poelman, dr. Ton Hurkmans (MaterialDesign), prof.dr.ir. Jos Brouwers, (Department of the Built Environment, Section Building Physics and Services TU Eindhoven), prof.dr.ir. Jilt Sietsma, (4TU.HTM/ Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering (3mE), Kris Binon (Flam3D), Guido Verhoeven (Bond voor Materialenkennis/SIM Flanders, Prof. dr. ir. Christian Louter Institut für Baukonstruktion Technische Universität Dresden).

2 News 20 Presenting Luca: a car made of recycled waste

Every year mankind produces 2.1 billion tons of waste, worldwide. In order to demonstrate this material can be reused this waste in a useful manner, a TU/ecomotive student team developed a car made almost entirely out of waste. The result is a sporty-looking electric car called Luca with a base of flax and recycled plastic, a large part of which was even fished out of the ocean. The body, finish, windows and interior are also made of recycled materials, including PET bottles, the hard plastic ABS and household waste. October 8th, the car was officially be unveiled.

24 3D Printing Multi-Materials

Researchers of the Columbia University of New York have invented a new 3D print technique that could transform additive manufacturing processes, potentially enabling the printing of circuit boards, electromechanical components, and perhaps even robots. They based their new process on one of the most widely used manufacturing processes, selective laser sintering (SLS).

26 Flax fibre composites in F1

McLaren and the Swiss company Bcomp are developing F1’s first natural fibre composite racing seat. The composite material is based on two fibre strengthened composites, developed by Bcomp, with salient properties in terms of temperature resistance, strength, weight, vibration damping and safety. The latter because of the crack behaviour of flax fibre composites. As opposed to carbon fibres, this natural fibre composite has a ductile fracture behaviour with blunt edges, thus improving safety without sharp carbon fibre shattering and toxic carbon fibre dust.

And last but not least: using natural fibres instead of carbon, the CO2 footprint can be drastically reduced.

30 Wienerberger Brick Award 2020

Wienerberger presented the biennial Brick Award for the ninth time; this time the Brick Award 2020 edition. A jury consisting of world-class architects assess fifty submissions on criteria such as innovative design, special use of ceramics, functionality and sustainability of projects all over the world. The prize is awarded in five categories: Feeling at Home, Living Together, Working Together, Sharing Public Spaces and Building Outside the box. The last category deals with innovative concepts and ways of using brick, such as new building technologies or special ceramic applications in projects. A total of six prizes will be awarded: in addition to the category prizes, there is also a Grand Prize Winner and a Special Prize Winner.

24 Marine sponges inspire next generation of construction

Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) are using the glassy skeletons of marine sponges as inspiration for the next generation of stronger and taller buildings, longer bridges, and lighter spacecraft.

36 Wireless aquatic robot could clean water

Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology developed a tiny plastic robot, made of responsive polymers, which moves under the influence of light and magnetism. In the future this ‘wireless aquatic polyp’ should be able to attract and capture contaminant particles from the surrounding liquid or pick up and transport cells for analysis in diagnostic devices. The researchers published their results in the journal PNAS.

Cover: Natural fibre reinforced satellite panel, page 29

INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020

NEWS

Samples of the electromagnetic shielding material: a composite of cellulose nanofibers and silver nanowires (Image: Empa)

The world’s lightest shielding material Electric motors and electronic devices generate electromagnetic fields that sometimes have to be shielded in order not to affect neighboring electronic components or the transmission of signals.

Conventional shielding is often too heavy or too poorly adaptable to the given geometry. Therefore, a light, flexible, and durable material with extremely high shielding effectiveness is needed.

Researchers now have used nanofibers of cellulose as the basis for an aerogel, which is a light, highly porous material.

Scientists of Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, DĂźbendorf, Switzerland, now developed aerogels based on cellulose nanofibers that can effectively shield electromagnetic radiation over a

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wide frequency range.

Cellulose fibers are obtained from wood and due to their chemical structure, enable a wide range of chemical modifications.

Ultra-light fine structures

The researchers now have succeeded in making a composite of cellulose nanofibers and silver nanowires, thereby creating ultra-light fine structures that provide excellent shielding against electromagnetic radiation. With a density of only 1.7 milligrams per cubic centimetre, the silver-reinforced cellulose aerogel achieves more than 40 dB shielding in the frequency range of high-resolution radar radiation (8 to 12 GHz); virtually

all radiation in this frequency range is intercepted by the material.

The composition of cellulose and silver wires is, together with the pore structure of the material decisive for the shielding effect. To create pores of optimum size and shape, the researchers pour the material into pre-cooled molds and allow it to freeze out slowly. The growth of the ice crystals creates the optimum pore structure for damping the fields.

More at Empa>

NEWS

Biobased, circular Christmas bauble with packaging Christmas may be the happiest time of the year, but not the most sustainable.

Therefore CoE BBE (Center of Expertise Biobased Economy) is studying a way to make Christmas more sustainable. The research focuses on the processing of pine needles from old Christmas trees into biopolymers to make biobased, circular Christmas bauble.

Every year, three million Christmas trees are planted in the Netherlands. The vast majority eventually finds its way to Dutch living rooms and remains there, often for about four to five weeks. In the

past ten years, the Christmas turnover of the Dutch market leader Intratuin has doubled to 135 million euros in 2019.

Christmas decorations are increasingly becoming a fashion item that is only used for only one year.

The majority of the discarded trees are collected by the municipal authorities and composted or incinerated. Christmas decorations that go out of style are often thrown away. What to do with all that biomass that is released in the first weeks of January? For that reason CoE BBE starts a project, with the aim of developing a circular and biobased

Christmas bauble; including packaging.

The project is divided into a technical and an economic part. In short, the aim of the technical research is to find out how biomass from used Christmas trees can be processed into a biopolymer and how a Christmas bauble can be produced with it. CoE BBE will carry out this part of the research and finance it together with production companies.

The economic part of the research focuses on the target group and the creation of biobased awareness.

More at CoEBBE>

WE KUNNEN NIET ZONDER NATUUR Word nu lid op natuurmonumenten.nl en ontvang 4 x per jaar het magazine Puur Natuur

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NEWS

Selfshading bricks against Urban Heat Island-effect Summers are getting warmer. Therefore cities are struggling increasingly with locally occurring heat zones, the so-called Urban Heat Island-effect. An urban heat island is an urban area or metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities. The temperature difference is usually larger at night than during the day, and is most apparent when winds are weak. The heat island effect is already a major problem in many countries. Advancing climate changes are bringing more and more southern heat to the cities, leading to progressively hotter and drier summer months. In addition, cities are becoming increasingly crowded and compact and more and more ‘closed’ spaces are emerging. And so there is a clear link between urban morphology, use of materials and microclimate. Urban planners and architects have therefore started thinking about new, smart and robust solutions for

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climate-friendly adaptations in the city.

For example, the Technical University of Munich is investigating new possibilities to use the climate-active properties such as thermal storage capacity and hygric

Hygric properties (water absorption capacity) to reduce the heat island effect. But there’s more. One of the new research directions of the Climate Active Bricks project is the development of a

NEWS method in which walls are not oriented in a flat plane, but in a geometry that generates shadow. Digital manufacturing techniques are used for this. As a result a robot will eventually position these ‘selfshading’ bricks exactly in the right place, creating a geometry with such a shadow pattern that the wall becomes less hot due to solar radiation. The TUM researchers want to use this phenomena in combination with the climate-active (thermal and hygric) properties, to create relatively cool zones. According to the researchers, this can make an interesting contribution to a more comfortable and healthier design of cities.

The TUM recently released a video online in which the project is explained (see video).

More at TUM>

Team:

Dr.ing. Architekt Philipp Lionel Molter, (projectleider) Associate Professorship of Architectural Design and Building Envelope; Prof.dr.sc. ETH Kathrin Dörfler, TT Professorship Digital Fabrication; Dipl. ing. Julia Fleckenstein; Ata Chokhachian, M.Sc. Climateflux

Video

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Bel ons op 026 3845600 of mail info@tcki.nl www.tcki.nl

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NEWS

TU Delft start-up develops ‘living coffin’ The TU Delft student start-up Loop has developed a living coffin made from mycelium. The Living Cocoon helps the body to ‘compost’ more efficiently, removes toxic substances and produces richer conditions in which to grow (new) trees and plants. After extensive testing, including in collaboration with two major funeral cooperatives CUVO (The Hague) and De Laatste Eer (Delft), this new form of burial is ready to be applied in practice. The first of the initial limited batch of ten Living Cocoons was already used for a funeral last september.

Mycelium normally grows underground in the complex root structure of trees, plants and fungi. It is a living organism that can neutralise all kinds of toxic substances and provides nutrition to everything that grows above the ground.

Mycelium can also help break down a human body.

The speed at which a body composts generally depends on various conditions, but experience shows that it can take over a decade. The varnished and metal parts of a coffin, as well as synthetic clothing, can persist for even longer. Loop

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expects that their coffin will be able to complete this entire process in two to three years, because it actively contributes to the composting process. In that process, not only are the waste products from the human body converted into

nutrients, the quality of the surrounding soil is also improved,.

Practical tests conducted by Ecovative in America have shown that the coffin is actually absorbed by nature within 30 to 45 days, under normal Dutch conditions.

NEWS In order to quantify the positive impact on soil quality, Loop is set to join forces with researchers from Naturalis to conduct further research into the increase in biodiversity that this form of burial can help to achieve.

Exhibition at Cube Design Museum

An example of a potential future design of the Loop Living Cocoon is on display at the (Re)Design Death exhibition in the Cube Design Museum in Kerkrade The exhibition is devoted to the theme of saying goodbye, dying, mourning and remembrance and can be seen until 24 January 2021.

TU Delft> More at Loop>

Voeg informatie toe aan de Kennisbank Biobased Bouwen De Biobased Economy speelt een belangrijke rol in de duurzame ontwikkeling van Nederland en biedt nieuwe kansen voor het bedrijfsleven. Via de kennisbank kunt u kennis vergaren en delen over de beschikbaarheid en toepassingsmogelijkheden van biobased materialen, producten en bouwconcepten. Samen versterken we zo de biobased economie.

Ruim dertig partijen in de bouwsector ondertekenden de green deal biobased bouwen. Deze producenten, architecten, adviseurs en kennisinstellingen delen hun kennis rond kansrijke mogelijkheden van biobased bouwen. Ook de ministeries van Binnenlandse Zaken (Wonen en Rijksdienst), Economische Zaken, en Infrastructuur en Milieu ondersteunen de green deal.

Bouw ook mee aan de biobased economie en voeg uw project- of productbeschrijvingen toe aan deze kennisbank.

Kijk op www.biobasedbouwen.nl voor meer informatie>

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NEWS

Easy-to-repair glass speaker wins Dyson Award 2020

Six industrial design engineering students from Delft University of Technology have won the Dutch edition of the James Dyson Award with Ammos: a fully recyclable home audio system that produces crystal clear sound with a sheet of glass. With their sustainable design

they hope to stimulate recycling and give everyone the chance to easily repair their audio system. Electronic waste is growing at speed. Harmful to the environment and bad for your wallet.

Last year, more than fifty million tons of electrical appliances were thrown away

worldwide. More than seven kilos per person. As demand for modern appliances grows, the mountain of e-waste keeps growing. Students at TU Delft’s Faculty of Industrial Design (IDE) realised that things could be done better. With the development of Ammos, they aim to start a counter-movement to the current throw-away culture. A glass speaker that you can repair yourself with just one screwdriver.

Glass

The big problem for consumer electronics is twofold. Firstly they’re often difficult, if not impossible to repair. Secondly, they are very difficult to recycle. Current speakers, for example, include parts made from rare metals. In collaboration with the Delft startup, DeNoize, the students set to work on the most important element of their Ammos design: the highly recyclable material that is glass.

While DeNoize is developing soundproof glass for buildings, the design students turned this concept on its head. What if we let the glass generate sound? With only ecologically sound materials such as bamboo and no compounds such as glue, Ammos is not only sustainable in

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NEWS production, but also easy to disassemble if you want to replace parts.

How does it work?

Ammos amplifies sound by vibrating a thin glass plate with the help of small actuators placed invisibly close to the edge of the glass. Thus the glass produces medium to high frequencies from 200 to 20,000 Hz. A small subwoofer in the base produces low frequencies of 20 and 200 Hz for a full sound spectrum. The speaker can be connected via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and has USB-C, 3.5 mm audio cable and power support as inputs. The bamboo front panel has a haptic touch surface that allows easy operation.

A winning design

The jury was impressed by Ammos’ design, with a long lifespan due to the high-quality components and timeless design. The product consists of secondary materials that have been chosen for durability, user quality and because they are ecologically sound. The aluminium printed circuit boards, for example, provide better heat dissipation, longevity, recyclability and are non-toxic. Ammos also stands for reparability. No glue is used, all fastenings can be undone with a

single screwdriver and all electronics are accessible by removing only six screws.

Critical components can be replaced more easily and cheaply, for example in case of a crack in the glass plate.

Text TU Delft>

Video

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NEWS

Kamp C the first to print an entire house in one piece This summer, at Kamp C, (the provincial Center for Sustainability and Innovation in construction at Westerlo, Belgium) a building was printed with the largest 3D concrete printer in Europe. The 90-square metre dwelling was printed in one piece with a fixed printer. According to the parties involved this is a world first.

The project is supposed to demonstrate the possibilities of the 3D concrete printing to the construction industry. The printed house is three times sturdier than a house built with quick build bricks. The material’s compressive strength is three times greater than that of the conventional quick build brick.

This first house is a test. The researchers will now check whether solidity is retained over time.

Besides the fibres in the concrete, the amount of wire-mesh reinforcement

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NEWS

used is extremely limited. As a result of the printing technology used, formwork was redundant, saving an estimated sixty percent on material, time, and budget.

In the future, an entire house could be printed in just under two days. If you add up all the days, it took just three weeks to print the house at Kamp C. The 3D concrete printer, which Kamp C bought from the Danish pioneer 3D Printhuset, is 11.4 x 10 x 10 m in size and can print a building up to 8.3 m high, 9.5 m wide and 9.5 m deep.

different wall types, while avoiding thermal bridges. The house is part of the European C3PO project, which stands for ‘Co-creation: 3D Printing met Ondernemingen (Enterpises)’. The project aims to accelerate the introduction of this innovative technology in Flanders. Eight partners, from both the scientific and business world, join forces: Beneens, ETIB / CONCRETE HOUSE, Groep Van

Roey, Thomas More, Trias architects, Ugent and Vicré. Saint-Gobain Weber is also participating in the project.

The house was printed with support from ERDF (the European Regional Development Fund).

More at Kamp C> Photography: Kamp C & Jasmien Smets

The house at Kamp C is a demo building that aims to show the techniques and opportunities of 3D printing as much as possible, such as strongly curved walls,

Video

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NEWS

Schuttebusbrug wins national steel prize 2020 The Zwolle Bus Bridge has won the Dutch National Steel Award 2020 in the category ‘Infrastructure.’ The the S-shaped Schuttebusbrug (bridge) was designed by ipv Delft for ProRail and the municipality of Zwolle. The bridge was built by BAM Infra.

The National Steel prize has been awarded every two years since 1971 in five categories: Non-residential construction, Industrial construction, Residential construction, Infrastructure, Characteristic steel building components.

The Schuttebusbrug is an S-shaped bus bridge on the west side of Zwolle station.

In the run-up towards the project, the project team considered different material options. From the point of view of costs, feasibility and maintenance, the choice was made for a main span in steel with concrete abutments. The main span is a tubular steel beam (box girder) with cantilevering steel wings. From a structu-

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girder at the bottom, the wooden slats above it and a slender, light line at the end. All necessary (technical) facilities have been integrated into the design: vehicle barriers, shielding the overhead line, lighting, rainwater drainage and soundproofing.

ral point of view, this is the most logical option. There is a concrete pressure layer on top of the steel construction.

The steel main span of over eighty meters is located above the track and has the double shape of a S curve. The box girder runs both in width and height, in the middle of the span it is 3.66 meters wide and 3.75 meters high. At the ends, the box girder is 4.55 meters wide and 2.67 meters high.

The steel used is S355, the weight of the 110 meter long box girder is 1,000 tons.

The bus bridge opened on 9 February, 2019 and was commissioned on 17 February, 2019. The bridge is only accessible to regular buses and emergency services.

The bottom of the S-shaped bridge is covered with bamboo, so that the bridge fits in well with the new, green environment of the station. The bridge construction consists of a central box girder with the deck overhanging. The light aluminum bridge edge is, among other things, equipped with integrated lighting for the roadways. From the side, this produces a three-layer image: the dark gray box

According to the jury, the winning design was chosen because of its clear line and sleek design with a pleasant, soft appearance. According to the jury, the Schuttebusbrug is unique because of its shape, the use of steel and the method of inserting the steel main span above the tracks and finally the torsion-resistant design, which makes the slim appearance of the 245-meter-long bridge appear to float.

NEWS

Winners in the other categories are: Diamantbeurs, Capital C, Amsterdam (category Non-residential building)> Rhenus New Logic III, Tilburg (Industrial building)> Residential building Fenix I, Rotterdam (Residential building)> Kunstobject de Zwerm, Eindhoven (Characteristic steel building parts)>

The Schuttebusbrug was designed ipv Delft for ProRail and the municipality of Zwolle. The bridge was built by BAM Infra. The Belgian steel constructor Victor Buyck Steel Construction made the construction and there was collaboration with Setzpfandt Beratende Ingenieu-

re, who developed the structural design together with engineers from BAM.

The winner of the National Sustainability Award for Steel 2020 is the project ‘Renovation of shops Hoogstraat 168-172, Rotterdam.’>

Nationale staalprijs (Dutch)> ipv Delft>

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NEWS

Algae as a building material Students from the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London have investigated the use of algae as a building material when mixed together with clay.

The research focused on the east coast of China, where so-called algae blooms are common and cause a lot of nuisance. This has led to a concept in which various building materials were deve-

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loped based on algae. These algae can be mixed with clay in different proportions and then pressed. This resulted in building blocks of different shapes and densities, which, according to the researchers, opens up completely new possibilities in terms of design.

The type of algae the project proposes to use green macroalgae, which despite being naturally-occurring, is harmful to

natural environments and marine life.

Notorious are so-called algae blooms, where the algae multiply explosively, emit toxic gases and destroy marine life.

The Bartlett researchers’ idea was: can anything useful be done with that enormous growth of algae? For example, could it be made into construction material?

And so the Ningbo Eco Village project

NEWS was born. The environment of the site is rich in these algae, and in this way alternative building materials will find and use an alternative destination to obtain housing units.

The team succeeded in creating a light, rigid building element (block) by compressing and hardening green macroalgae, mixed up with white clay, with clay playing the role of a naturally derived structural aggregate.

Furthermore, a interlocking component system was developed, with which a newly devised design language can be given shape.

Project name: Algae Anatomy Team: Bryan Law, Dinel Mao, Jie Song Studio: Research Cluster 5&6 Tutors: Daniel Widrig, Guan Lee, Adam Holloway

Video

Different building blocks of algae. Issuu publication ‘clay: algae atonomy’>

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NEWS

Eggshell-based surgical material for skull injuries A bioactive polymer-ceramic composite for fixing implants and restoring bone defects in the skull was developed by an international group of materials scientists from the NUST MISIS Center for Composite Materials, Moscow, Russia. An innovative composition of the material based on eggshell-derived bioceramic provides increased strength and biointegration of implants. The results of the work were published in the international scientific journal Journal of Asian Ceramic Societies, titled ‘Designing of porous PMMA/diopside bone cement for non-load bearing applications.’

Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) is a synthetic polymer used by surgeons as a ‘bone cement’ due to its self-curing and strength properties. But this material is bioinert by its nature, therefore it has a weak chemical and biological interactions with living tissues and hardly integrates with bones.

Scientists are actively investigating

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PMMA in order to optimize it for wider application in various biomedical fields, for example, ensuring reliable fixation of artificial joints/implants, dental fixators, closure of cranial defects in various injuries, etc.

The team of the NUST MISIS Center for Composite Materials has solved this problem by modifying polymethyl­ methacrylate adding diopside, a material from the category of silicate bio­ceramics.

It is known for such properties as lack of toxicity to living cells, biodegradability and the ability to stimulate osteogenesis - the formation of bone tissue on its surface.

For the production of composites, diopside obtained from eggshells was used.

The developers proposed to optimize the material by adding bioactive ceramics to the PMMA polymer matrix. As a result, a porous composite PMMA/diopside material was obtained.

During the experiments, different proportions of diopside - 25, 50 and 75 % were used.

The samples containing 50 % diopside have shown the best result - they have demonstrated a four-fold increase in compressive strength, and after four weeks of in vitro testing have shown a good ability to deposit bone minerals on their surface.

At the same time, the scientists have found that the mechanical properties of the obtained porous composites correspond to the properties of the spongy bone of the human body.

MISIS> The original article is online>

NEWS

Foldable keyboards out of any paper Engineers of Purdue University (West Lafayette, VS) developed a simple printing process that renders any paper or cardboard packaging into a keyboard, keypad or other easy-to-use human-machine interfaces. This technology was published in the Aug. 23 edition of Nano Energy, titled ‘Moisture-insensitive, Self-powered Paper-based Flexible Electronics.’

According to Ramses Martinez, assistant professor in Purdue’s School of Industrial Engineering, it’s the first time a self-powered paper-based electronic device is demonstrated. The scientists have unveiled a new printing process that can turn just about any piece of paper or cardboard into a waterproof, foldable keyboard that even doesn’t require a power source, since they harvest the energy from their contact with the user1.

The Perdue scientists developed a method to render paper repellent to water, oil and dust by coating it with highly fluorinated molecules. This omniphobic coating allowed the team to print multi-

ple layers of circuits onto paper without getting the ink to smear from one layer to the next one. (A surface is omniphobic if, in addition to being water-repellent (hydrophobic), it is also oil-repellent (oleophobic).)

book can be transformed into music player interfaces for users to choose songs, play them and change their volume.

According toe Purdue this technology is compatible with conventional large-scale printing processes and could easily be implemented to rapidly convert conventional cardboard packaging or paper into smart packaging or a smart human-machine interface.

1

Martinez envisions this technology to facilitate the user interaction with food packaging, to verify if the food is safe to be consumed, or enabling users to sign the package that arrives at home by dragging their finger over the box to properly identify themselves as the owner of the package.

Additionally, the team demonstrated that simple paper sheets from a note-

More at Prudue> Watch the video ‘Harvesting the World’s Mechanical Energy: Triboelectric Generators Capture Wasted Power’>

Video

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MAKE IT MATTER

MAKE IT MATTER MAKE IT MATTER is compiled in collaboration with MaterialDistrict (MaterialDistrict.com). In this section new, and/or interesting developments and innovative materials are highlighted.

Le Pavé The material Le Pavé comes in panels made from plastic waste.

It is certified safe, locally produced, recycled, recyclable and fire-resistant. It’s composed of 100 % plastic waste; all of which is made possible by a patented thermocompression technique. With Le Pavé each panel is unique, the aesthetics are the result of a unique process, which, like marble or wood, allows the substance of the material to express itself.

More at MaterialDistrict>

Remake ceramics With Remake ceramics, Breda (The Netherlands) based Fabrique Publique reuses broken pieces of ceramics, saving them from the incinerator, and makes it a valuable resource for new products. The first tests with recycled ceramics were applied to a set of tableware called ‘Future history’, containing 5 and 10 % recycled material. In further research, tests with higher percentages of recycled content were carried out, as well as tests with smaller/bigger type of grains and specific colours.

More at MaterialDistrict>

Space-defining-surfaces Design studio Giles Miller Studio developed textured wall tiles made of various materials, like ceramics, wood, and metal. The tiles manipulate the relationship between light and material to create subtle yet complex aesthetics.

More at MaterialDistrict>

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MAKE IT MATTER Recycled pet felt wall-cover To improve the acoustics, mostly the reverberation time will be shortened. The RTS acoustic panels, made by RTS-Preidel, Alblasserdam, The Netherlands, ensure optimum absorption and are easy to process. The total system of the RTS acoustic panel (full-colour) consists of a felt plate that is installed on a cavity filled with absorption filling. The material is made from recycled PET and 280 bottles are used for the production of one sheet.

More at MaterialDistrict>

Lightweight acoustics Modern architecture and design increasingly use more materials such as glass, steel and stone that meet the requirements of more open offices and meeting facilities. These hard surfaces reflect sound and contribute to an increase in sound levels and a decrease in productive environments. Lightweight Acoustic Trend panel counteracts the noise. The material is made of pressure laminates and wood veneer, perforated with more than 320,000 perforations per square meter.

More at Material District>

Robotic precision in manufacturing parametric design Designed by researchers of the University of Stuttgart, the BUGA Wood Pavilion celebrates a new approach to digital timber construction. Following biomimicry principles, the pavilion consists of 376 segmented timber shells. Each polygonal segment is built up from two plywood panels and features unique finger joints (more than 17,000) on the sides to make them fit together like an enormous jigsaw puzzle.

More at MaterialDistrict>

HeartFelt-baffles The HeartFelt modular acoustic felt system for ceilings and walls was developed by Hunter Douglas Architectural. The lightweight HeartFelt acoustic baffles for ceilings are made from non-woven thermoformed PES fibres, each measuring 40 to 100 mm in width and are available in 100-500 mm height, with a maximum length of 2000 mm. HeartFelt Baffles won the 2020 Red Dot Design Award in the Product Design category.

More at MaterialDesign>

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INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020

Presenting Luca: a car made of recycled waste Every year mankind produces 2.1 billion tons of waste, worldwide. In order to demonstrate this material can be reused this waste in a useful manner, a TU/ecomotive student team developed a car made almost entirely out of waste. The result is a sporty-looking electric car called Luca with a base of flax and recycled plastic, a large part of which was even fished out of the ocean. The body, finish, windows and interior are also made of recycled materials, including PET bottles, the hard plastic ABS and household waste. October 8th, the car was officially be unveiled.

Luca is a compact car with two electric motors in the rear wheels. It can reach a top speed of 90 kilometers per hour and has an action radius of 220 kilometers.

The consumption can be converted to about 180 kilometers per liter of gasoline. In addition to the efficient engines,

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this is due to the low weight: the car weighs only 360 kg without batteries.

This is over half as light as comparable cars. In addition, the car only needs sixty kilos of batteries as opposed to hundreds of kilos for other electric cars.

Plastic from the oceans

Luca’s chassis consists of a unique sandwich panel developed by the students in collaboration with several companies.

The exterior is made of flax fibers combined with plastic which was fished from the ocean. Although this was often in

INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020

the ocean for several years and consists of different types of plastic, it is able to give the chassis sufficient strength when combined with the natural fibers. The core of the material is made of recycled PET bottles. PET can be recycled no more than ten times, so its lifespan can be greatly extended by using it in a car.

After all, ten cars last longer than ten plastic bottles.

Coloured film

However, the implementation of waste doesn’t stop there. The car’s body, for example, is made of recycled ABS, a hard plastic used in many consumer products such as toys, televisions and kitchen products. The car gets its yellow colour from a wrap - a coloured film - instead of paint. This film can also be removed without leaving any residue. This leaves pure plastic and makes the final recycling process a lot easier. The side and rear windows are also made of recycled material. The recycling process immediately gives the windows a luxurious black tint, so sustainability can be anything but boring.

21 | INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020

INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020 Coconut- and horsehair

Waste has also been used in the interior.

For example, Luca has two very comfortable custom-made chairs, the cushions of which consist of a combination of coconut hair and horsehair. The fabric around them is made of recycled PET but feels and looks like suede. The center console consists, among other things, of a plastic additive from household waste.

In addition, there are even residual materials from Luca’s own production process: small pieces of flax with the plastic from the ocean are compressed into stylish, useful plates.

Photography: Bart van Overbeeke More at TUE> More about Luca at TU/ecomotive >

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INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020

7 de editi e

Ontmoet dé top van de lijmsector

Trends en ontwikkelingen voor industriële lijmverbindingen

26 november De Run 1115 Veldhoven

Georganiseerd door:

Meld u nu aan www.lijm-event.nl 23 | INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020

RESEARCH

3D Printing Multi-Materials Researchers of the Columbia University of New York have invented a new 3D print technique that could transform additive manufacturing processes, potentially enabling the printing of circuit boards, electromechanical components, and perhaps even robots. They based their new process on one of the most widely used manufacturing processes, selective laser sintering (SLS). This method prints parts out of micron-scale material powders using a laser: the laser heats the particles to the point where they fuse together to form a solid mass.

The catch is that SLS technologies have been limited to printing with a single material at a time.

To solve this problem Hod Lipson, professor of Mechanical Engineering and Data Science at Columbia University of New York, and his PhD student John Whitehead developed a new approach to overcome these SLS limitations, by using their expertise in robotics.

By inverting the laser so that it points upwards, they invented a way to enable SLS to use - at the same time - multiple materials. Their working prototype, along with a print sample that contained two different materials in the same layer, was published online by Additive Manufacturing (‘Inverted multi-material laser sintering.’)

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Selective laser sintering traditionally has involved fusing together material particles using a laser pointing downward into a heated print bed. A solid

object is built from the bottom up, with the printer placing down a uniform layer of powder and using the laser to selectively fuse some material in the layer. The printer then deposits a second layer of powder onto the first layer, the laser fuses new material to the material in the previous layer, and the process is repeated over and over until the part is completed.

This process works well if there is just one material used in the printing process. But using multiple materials in a single print has been very challenging, because once the powder layer is deposited onto the bed, it cannot be unplaced, or replaced with a different powder.

The researchers decided to find a way to eliminate the need for a powder bed entirely. They set up multiple transparent glass plates, each coated with a thin layer of a different plastic powder.

RESEARCH They lowered a print platform onto the upper surface of one of the powders, and directed a laser beam up from below the plate and through the plate’s bottom. This process selectively sinters some powder onto the print platform in a pre-programmed pattern according to a virtual blueprint. The platform is then raised with the fused material, and moved to another plate, coated with a different powder, where the process is repeated. This allows multiple materials to either be incorporated into a single layer, or stacked. Meanwhile, the old, used-up plate is replenished.

In the paper, the team demonstrated their working prototype by generating a 50 layer thick, 2.18 mm sample out of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) powder with an average layer height of 43.6 microns and a multi-material nylon and TPU print with an average layer height of 71 microns. These parts demonstrated both the feasibility of the process and the capability to make stronger, denser

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materials by pressing the plate hard against the hanging part while sintering.

The researchers are now experimenting with metallic powders and resins.

Columbia University>

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Contact • New Technologies & Applications

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INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020

Flax fibre composites in F1 McLaren and the Swiss company Bcomp are developing F1’s first natural fibre composite racing seat. The composite material is based on two fibre strengthened composites, developed by Bcomp, with salient properties in terms of temperature resistance, strength, weight, vibration damping and safety. The latter because of the crack behaviour of flax fibre composites. As opposed to carbon fibres, this natural fibre composite has a ductile fracture behaviour with blunt edges, thus improving safety without sharp carbon fibre shattering and toxic carbon fibre dust.

And last but not least: using natural fibres instead of carbon, the CO2 footprint can be drastically reduced.

Since the introduction of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship in 1950, motorsport has seen teams constantly pushing the boundaries of technology, making it the birthplace of innovation.

For instance, in 1981, the McLaren Formula 1 team was the first to apply the aerospace fighter plane practice of using carbon fiber to replace aluminum in creating the chassis. The McLaren MP4/1 was met by skepticism in the paddock that season, but carbon fiber was quickly adopted by all of the F1 teams.

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Now McLaren is thinking of a new material innovation. The reaceteam wants to start replacing carbon fiber in some parts of its F1 cars with a new organic composite developed by Swiss natural fiber supplier Bcomp Ltd. Carbon fiber accounts for 70 percent of an F1 car by weight, but Bcomp’s renewable natural fiber material is lighter still. It also has the advantages of being cheaper, stronger, and more vibration dampening, which are all appreciated benefits.

Furthermore, using Bcomp’s natural flax

fibers in place of conventional carbon fiber is expected to result in a 75 percent lower CO2 footprint for the specific part; a racing seat in this case.

CO2-neutral

Flax is primarily used in the production of linen. It is grown without competing directly with food crops. Flax is a CO2-neutral raw material and its fibres are biodegradable. At the end of the bio composite material can be ground down into a new base material or thermally

INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020 weight, high performance natural fibre reinforcement fabrics. According to the company this type of composite offers improved safety with non-catastrophic crash behaviour, high vibration damping, specific bending stiffness and fatigue resistance and more.

Flax fibres

recycled without residual waste, rather than end up in landfill.

AmpliTex

Bcomp was founded in 2011 by material science PhDs from EPFL. (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne.) The team started with a mission to create lightweight yet high performance skis. The

so-called bCores were launched and successfully adopted by some of the biggest names in freeride skiing. At the time, Bcomp used flax fibres to reinforce the balsa cores and improve shear stiffness.

And still, Bcomp’s composites are based on natural fibres.

Seveal years ago, Bcomp launced ampliTex, range consists of extremely light-

The second stap was the development of the powerRibs technology, which matches the performance of carbon fibres for motorsport bodywork and other thin-walled shell elements.

Inspired by the thin veins on the back of leaves, Bcomp’s proprietary powerRibs technology provides a three-dimensional grid structure on one side of the seat, which is then used to reinforce Bcomp’s optimally spun and woven flax fibre reinforcement fabric, ampliTex. Made by twisting flax fibres to form a thick yarn, the powerRibs act as a backbone to the ampliTex flax fabric that is bonded to it.

According to Bcomp, PowerRibs add maximal stiffness at minimal weight by creating a 3D structure on one side of a thin walled shell element. This enables using less base material, decreasing weight, costs and consumables in production. The proprietary technology is perfect for high-performance appli-

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INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020

cations such as replacing or reinforcing carbon fibres in motorsport bodywork or decreasing weight in automotive interior panels.

Properties

Flax fiber composite details in the McLaren racing seat

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While the mechanical properties of flax make it an attractive renewable raw material for high-performance composites, the tubular structure of flax fibres provides low density and high stiffness, which affords the opportunity to reduce weight while simultaneously improving vibration damping, as well as resistance to breakage, torsion and compression.

Furthermore, it’s safe. According to Bcomp, it’s not prone to brittle fracture and splintering when it breaks, like cabon fibre does. This property is enhanced further by the structure of Bcomp’s powerRibs which stiffen and confine the damage zone. The composite of ampliTex and powerRibs is not as fragile, and while it still breaks, the softer debris remains attached to the main structure with the help of the powerRibs, which help dissipate the energy.

The ductile fracture behaviour of natural fibre composites opens the door to other possibilities too. One of the most spectacular, but equally dangerous, aspects of an on-track incident are the

INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020 shards of carbon fibre that result from a collision. Not only do they present an immediate risk to the drivers, they are notorious for causing punctures and leaving a driver’s race in tatters. By using natural fibre composites in other areas of the car, such as front wing endplates and the floor, it’s possible to reduce carbon fibre debris and therefore the risk of punctures.

Reducing costs Even, there’s more. With a budget cap set be introduced from 2021, many F1 teams will need to reduce costs while maintaining and improving performance - no mean feat in a sport where, typically, a team can pursue more development routes the more resource it has available. Teams are going to have to work even smarter, and with Bcomp’s ampliTex and powerRibs solutions reducing raw material cost by up to 30 % compared to traditional carbon fibre, this significant saving can free up budget to explore other ways of improving car performance.

Expectations

According to McLaren, the natural fibre composite racing seat is just the beginning. This seat is the first step in the successful application of natural fibre composites in F1. By working with Bcomp, McLaren expects to identify other components that can be replaced

with a sustainable alternative that has equivalent weight and performance.

More at McLaren> Bcomp> Photography: McLaren/Bcomp

Natural fibre reinforced satellite panel Together with the European Space Agency (ESA), Bcomp Ltd has developed the first natural fibre reinforced satellite panel. The project is the result of a close collaboration between Bcomp Ltd and experts from the European Space Agency, RUAG Space and IRS Stuttgart, funded under the ESA General Support Technology Program. The bio-composite satellite structure panel has been developed within the framework of ESA Clean Space Initiative. According to Bcomp, it demonstrates the versatility of Bcomp’s proprietary powerRibsTM and ampliTexTM natural fibre technologies, even in the most extreme environments.

According to the ESA, bio-composites create new opportunities for ‘Design for Demise’ - the intentional design of the space system hardware, such that it will completely burn up upon re-entry at the end of its mission. This makes it safer for humans, ground infrastructure and the environment.

The bio-composite satellite panels meet the high requirements in terms of temperature resistance, strength, weight and vibration damping.

More at Bcomp>

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INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020

Stadsarchief Delft (Photography: Stefan MĂźller)

Wienerberger Brick Award Wienerberger presented the biennial Brick Award for the ninth time; this time the Brick Award 2020 edition. A jury consisting of world-class architects assess fifty submissions on criteria such as innovative design, special use of ceramics, functionality and sustainability of projects all over the world. The prize is awarded in five categories: Feeling at Home, Living Together, Working Together, Sharing Public Spaces and Building Outside the box. The last category deals with innovative concepts and ways of using brick, such as new building technologies or special ceramic applications in projects. A total of six prizes will be awarded: in addition to the category prizes, there is also a Grand Prize Winner and a Special Prize Winner.

Five Dutch architects were nominated this year, one of which was awarded: the Delft city archive; a project by Gottlieb Paludan Architects (DK) and Office Winhov (NL). They won the prize in the Working Together category.

A city archive has the somewhat contradictory task of protecting valuable do-

30 | INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020

cuments from outside influences while making them accessible to the public.

This new building combines these two functions in the form of an enormous, abstracted bookshelf.

The City Archive is divided in two parts: an L-shaped plinth containing the study halls, cafeteria and offices, and above

that a closed cube with the archive. In keeping with its public function, the bright concrete base is completely surrounded by story-high window openings.

With its bright color, it is reminiscent of the many white-plastered public buildings in the otherwise brick-dominated historic center of Delft.

INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020

Katowice, Silesia University’s Radio and TV Department (Photography: Adrià Goula)

With their geometric arrangements, the fully enclosed facades of the archive area make one think of a bookshelf: slender slabs made of prefabricated concrete parts form the ‘shelves’, between which brick pilasters, reminiscent of book spines, protrude at various lenghts.

Sharing Public Spaces

Katowice in Poland was once a fashionable, but at the same time industrial

city, surrounded by coal mines, steel mills, foundries and brickworks in front of large boulevards. In the 1940s it was destroyed and the old city streets with many attractive buildings were de­ molished.

Today, the city is known for its culture rather than coal mining. Here, in the Chiaroscuro core of the city, is a magical new building that marries Katowice’s history to the city’s future. A surviving

dark brick tenement building has been renovated and wrapped in a screen of bricks sheltering a new university faculty of radio and television.

The brick curtain was designed by BAAS Arquitectura (Spain), Grupa 5 architekci (Poland), Maleccy biuro projektowe (Poland) and is made of the same material as the surviving 19th century house, so the building has a consistency of texture.

These bricks - burned in Europe’s last coal-fuelled kilns - are nuanced with dark sintering and graduations of color used throughout the building. The project was Grand Prize Winner and Category Winner Sharing Public Spaces.

Maya Somaiya Library

Maya Somaiya-Library (Photography: Edmund Sumner)

The Maya Somaiya Library is a brand new building for the Shri Sharda English Medium School in Kopargaon, Maharashtra, a state in Western India. Sameep Padora and his studio in Mumbai have made a brick construction in Kopar­ gaon that appears to grow naturally and sinuously from the ground. It rises in fluid form to span a single space library before curving back to the ground again.

The complex form of the roof is made and shaped by three layers of shallow - 32 milimeter - brick tiles. Held in compression, these form lightweight vaults proving how adventurous contemporary design can be realized in simple and locally sourced materials.

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INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020 The compound curves of this structure have been made possible through a Swiss 3D computer modeling process.

Designed with the aid of computers and yet hand-crafted, the library treads a fine, calligraphic line between technological wizardry and a sense of what is natural.

Maya Somaiya Library was awarded in the Building Outside the Box category.

The Iturbide project

TALLER | Mauricio Rocha + Gabriela Carrillo, (Mexico) ‘Iturbide Studio’-project won the award in the ‘Feeling at Home’ category. Graciela Iturbide is a Mexican photographer. She commissioned her son Mauricio Rocha, who runs the Taller de Arquitectura together with Gabriela Carrillo, with a special building: Her studio was to be erected on an empty lot in the immediate vicinity of the house.

Her only condition: It had to be made of brick.

The architects built a three-story brick turret that rises out of the fabric of low-rise neighboring buildings. Consisting of three stacked, 28-square-meter rooms, the structure is flanked on the north and south sides by a patio. All rooms open through wall-sized sliding windows to the two courtyards.

All of the walls were made of reddish-brown, handmade bricks from a manufacturer in Puebla 150 kilometers away. Thanks to the openwork mason-

ry, a play of light and shadow, which changes with the position of the sun during the day, emerges inside. Thus, the studio is shielded from the outside world without being completely disconnected from it.

Living Together

The Prototype Village House project in Rwanda (Rafi Segal and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Rwanda Workshop Team, USA) was Winner in the Living Together category..

Rwanda is the most densely populated country on the African continent, but at the same time very rural. Outside the urban areas, a sprawl of small houses covers the hilly landscape. Because such peri-urban settlements also require modernization and expansion, a state program to promote village development.

To develop an alternative, a team of MIT Africa students headed by Professor Rafi Segal conducted a three-week project in the village of Mageragere. Together with villagers and local laborers, they worked out a prototype for an affordable house which is completely tailored to Rwandan needs.

The wall system of the house features a core of panels made of compressed straw fiber combined with 10 x 10 centimeter thick concrete posts. Unlike most Rwandan village houses, it was not clad in sun-dried bricks, but with longer-lasting red ones.

Iturbide Studio Architecten, Mexico (Photography: Rafael Gamo)

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Can Jaime I n’Isabelle

With the Can Jaime I n’Isabelle project, the architects of TEd’A arquitectes (Spain) have created a contemporary interpretation of the traditional court­ yard houses of Mallorca. It’s built upon a square, without having to strictly and dogmatically follow geometry. Sealed off from the outside for the most part, the classic courtyard houses reveal a variety of spaces, paths, plants, closed, open, and covered places: arcades, porches, terraces. TEd’A arquitectes also use this type to fit the house into the landscape: Stones of the property are integrated in the outer concrete walls; with the green roofs, the house becomes a part of the cultural landscape that is carried forward with it.

Can Jaime I n’Isabelle was special prize winner in the category Feeling at Home.

Wienerberger Brick Award winners>

RESEARCH

Ground mussel shells for 3D printing Marita Sauerwein used a 3D printer to create a vase and a hair clip made from ground mussel shells, with sugar and alginate as binding agents. With these prototypes she shows that 3D printing and reprinting using locally sourced sustainable and natural raw materials is a viable option in a circular economy.

This does however call for a different approach in the design process. She was awarded her PhD at TU Delft on Wednesday 14 October.

20 million kilos of raw materials

Mussel shells are abundantly available in the Netherlands. For instance, very year, 55 million kilos of mussels are harvested here, resulting in 20 million kilos of waste. What if you could put that mountain of waste material to good use, and even reuse it? To investigate the possibility of using these types of new materials in 3D printing, Sauerwein experimented with materials, designed prototypes and actually produced them.

Dissolve and re-print

One of the key requirements for practical use in a circular economy is that it must be possible to deconstruct and reassemble the materials used without deterioration of quality. In this case, the prototypes can simply be dissolved in water to form a paste, which can then be reused in the 3D printer without any loss of quality. The most important finding of Sauerwein for this was the binding agent. The compounds made with the mussel shells and alginate are fully reversible, making them suitable for reuse in another product design without quality loss. Also, products printed with alginate can be bend after submersion in water, which offers new possibilities, for example, to make a precisely fitting hair clip. According to the doctoral candidate, the development of re-printable materials calls for a different approach to design and a different perspective on the life cycle of a product. You have to think about how products and material can be reused without losing quality as soon as you start designing.

Text: TU Delft> More reading: What can mussel shells teach us about the circular-economy?> The article ‘Additive Manufacturing for Design in a Circular Economy’ is online>

33 | INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020

RESEARCH

Marine sponges inspire next generation of construction Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) are using the glassy skeletons of marine sponges as inspiration for the next generation of stronger and taller buildings, longer bridges, and lighter spacecraft. In a new paper published in Nature Materials, they showed that the diagonally-reinforced square lattice-like skeletal structure of Euplectella aspergillum, a deep-water marine sponge, has a higher strength-toweight ratio than the traditional lattice designs that have used for centuries in the construction of buildings and bridges. They found the sponge’s diagonal reinforcement strategy achieves the highest buckling resistance for a given amount of material, which indicates that stronger and more resilient structures can be build by intelligently rearranging existing material within the structure.

In other words: this biologically-inspired

34 | INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020

geometry could provide a roadmap for designing lighter, stronger structures for a wide range of applications.

The use of diagonal lattice architectures, that uses many small, closely spaced dia-

gonal beams to evenly distribute applied loads, was patented in the early 1800s by the architect and civil engineer, Ithiel Town, who wanted a method to make sturdy bridges out of lightweight and

Euplectella aspergillum

RESEARCH cheap materials.

Town’s method certainly is cost-effective and functional, but not optimized. Could bioinspired architecture pave the way for stronger, lighter structures?

Venus Flower basket Euplectella aspergillum, also called ‘Venus flower basket’, employs two sets of parallel diagonal skeletal struts, which intersect over and are fused to an underlying square grid, to form a robust checkerboard-like pattern.

In simulations and experiments, the researchers replicated this design and compared the sponge’s skeletal architecture to existing lattice geometries.

The sponge design outperformed them all, withstanding heavier loads without buck­ling. The researchers showed that the paired parallel crossed-diagonal structure improved overall structural strength by more than 20 percent, without the need to add additional material to achieve this effect.

The Harvard Office of Technology Development has protected the intellectual property relating to this project and is exploring commercialization opportunities.

Credits: The article was published by Nature Materials, titled ‘Mechanically robust lattices inspired by deep-sea glass sponges’ and written by Matheus C. Fernandes, Joanna Aizenberg, James C. Weaver & Katia Bertoldi, John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. More at Harvard>

Video

Composite rendering that transitions from a glassy sponge skeleton on the left to a welded rebar-based lattice on the right, highlighting the biologically inspired nature of the research (Image Courtesy of Peter Allen, Ryan Allen, and James C. Weaver/Harvard SEAS)

35 | INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020

RESEARCH

Photo: Nando Harmsen

Wireless aquatic robot could clean water Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology developed a tiny plastic robot, made of responsive polymers, which moves under the influence of light and magnetism. In the future this ‘wireless aquatic polyp’ should be able to attract and capture contaminant particles from the surrounding liquid or pick up and transport cells for analysis in diagnostic devices.

The researchers published their results in the journal PNAS. The mini robot is inspired by a coral polyp; a small soft creature with tentacles, which makes up the corals in the ocean.

The developed wireless artificial polyp is 1 by 1 cm, has a stem that reacts to magnetism, and light steered tentacles. The tentacles move by shining light on them.

Different wavelengths lead to different results. For example, the tentacles ‘grab’ under the influence of UV light, while

36 | INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020

they ‘release’ with blue light.

The device now presented can grab and release objects underwater, which is a new feature of the light-guided package delivery mini robot the researchers presented earlier this year. This land-based robot couldn’t work underwater, because the polymers making up that robot act through photothermal effects. The heat generated by the light fueled the

robot, instead of the light itself. Doctoral candidate Marina Pilz Da Cunha and her colleagues therefore developed a photomechanical polymer material that moves under the influence of light and is not sensitive to heat.

Furthermore, this new material can hold its deformation after being activated by light. While the photothermal material immediately returns to its original shape

RESEARCH after the stimuli has been removed, the molecules in the photomechanical material actually take on a new state.

This allows different stable shapes, to be maintained for a longer period of time.

That helps to control the gripper arm; once something has been captured, the robot can keep holding it until it is addressed by light once again to release it.

By placing a rotating magnet under­ neath the robot, the stem circles around its axis (see video). According to Pilz Da Cunha, it was therefore possible to actually move floating objects in the water towards the polyp, in this case oil droplets.

The position of the tentacles (open, closed or something in between), turned out to have an influence on the fluid flow. Computer simulations, with different tentacle positions, eventually helped to understand and get the movement of the stem exactly right. And to ‘attract’ the oil droplets towards the tentacles.

An added advantage is that the robot operates independently from the composition of the surrounding liquid.

This is unique, because the dominant stimuli-responsive material used for underwater applications nowadays, hydrogels, are sensitive for their environment. Hydrogels therefore behave differently in contaminated water. The robot also works in the same way in salt water, or water with contaminants. In fact, in the future the polyp may be able to filter contaminants out of the water by catching them with its tentacles.

PhD student Pilz Da Cunha is now working on the next step: an array of polyps that can work together. She hopes to re-

Design of artificial aquatic polyp. (A) Photograph of a marine polyp, reproduced with permission from photographer Robin Jeffries. (B) The artificial polyp inspired by the design of marine polyps. The device is composed of two LCN films with planar alignment that operate as the device’s grasping ‘arms.’ The LCNs are connected to a flexible PDMS/iron oxide pillar with a drop of UV-curable glue. The LCN is a highly cross-linked network containing azobenzene diacrylate mesogens, A1. (C, i) Upon rotation of a magnet underneath the polyp, the structure undergoes a bending and rotational motion which when submerged in a fluid causes an effective flow. (C, ii) Upon UV light irradiation the polyp is made to close and blue light reversibly opens the structure

alize transport of particles, in which one polyp passes on a package to the other.

This research was published in PNAS magazine on July 13th. Carried out at the department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry and the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems of Eindhoven University and Technology, titled ‘An Artificial Aquatic Polyp that Wirelessly Attracts, Grasps and Releases Objects.’ DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2004748117 It’s online>

Video by Marina Pilz Da Cunha

TU Eindhoven>

WE KUNNEN NIET ZONDER NATUUR Word nu lid op natuurmonumenten.nl en ontvang 4 x per jaar het magazine Puur Natuur

37 | INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020

ENTERPRISE EUROPE NETWORK

Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) supports companies with international ambitions The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) is an initiative of the European Commission that supports entrepreneurs in seeking partners to innovate and do business abroad. The Network is active in more than 60 countries worldwide.

It brings together 3,000 experts from more than 600 member organisations – all renowned for their excellence in business support.

Database

Every company can participate by adjusting its profile to the database. This company will be brought to the attention in the country in which it wants to become active. At the same time it is possible to search for partners.

EEN advisers actively assist in compiling the profile, which is drawn up in a certain format. The EEN websites also contain foreign companies that are looking for Dutch companies and organizations for commercial or technological cooperation. The EEN advisers support the search for a cooperation partner by actively deploying contacts within the network. In addition, Company Missions

and Match Making Events are regularly organized. All these services are free of charge.

There are five types of profiles:

• Business Offer:

the company offers a product

Video: How Enterprise Europe Network works

• Business Request:

the company is looking for a product

• Technology Offer:

the company offers a technology

• Technology Request:

the company is looking for a technology

• Research & Development Request:

the organization seeks cooperation for research

When a company has both a Business Offer and a Business Request (or another combination), two (or even more if applicable) profiles are created.

The profile includes the most essential

information about the nature of the supply or demand, the ‘type of partner’ that is intended and the expected cooperation structure.

Get in touch with your local network contact point by selecting the country and city closest to where your business is based. They can help you with advice, support and opportunities for international partnerships.

For sustainable building and the creative industry, contact ir. drs. Hans Kamphuis: T: +31 (0) 88 042 1124 M: 06 25 70 82 76 E: hans.kamphuis@rvo.nl For Materials contact Nils Haarmans: T: +31 (0) 88 062 5843 M: 06 21 83 94 57 More information websites can be found at the Europe Network websites: www.enterpriseeuropenetwork.nl http://een.ec.europa.eu

38 | INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020

ENTERPRISE EUROPE NETWORK

Virtual Company Misson to Splastica Enterprise Europe Network would like to invite you to participate in the Virtual Company Mission to Splastica a company that developed bioplastic that can be produced with milk leftovers, on 19 November 2020, 15:00 CET. The company’s technology allows the production of new 100 % biodegradable and compostable bioplastic materials, based on natural polymers, made from milk leftovers using an eco-sustainable synthesis to.

Register> The Virtual Company Mission: Green bioplastic produced with milk leftovers is part of the EEN event Smart Manufacturing Matchmaking 2020 - Virtual Edition.

Virtual trade mission Olympic Games Paris 2024 Welcome to the virtual trade mission Olympic Games Paris 2024. The mission facilitates Dutch and French companies active in the sectors sustainable construction, sports infrastructure and environmental technology in gaining market information and new business contacts leading up to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. We invite you to register yourself on this platform to participate in the different sessions and engage in one-on-one video conversations with potential business partners.

Programme Items • Kick-off seminar on Wednesday

• • •

9 December 2020 with Ms Sigrid Kaag, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation and high level French representatives.

Webinars and informations sessions.

Focus on the large infrastructure project Grand Paris Express.

Individual matchmaking and matchmaking on your own initiative.

Who will benefit most from this event?

We particularly recommend the participation of private sector representatives interested in the French market active in the sectors sustainable construction, sports infrastructure and environmental technology. During this online event representatives and specialists from the aforementioned sectors will share their knowledge and insights with you.

Register or find more information about this website: https://virtual-trade-mission-os2024-france.b2match.io>

39 | INNOVATIVE MATERIALS 5 2020

15 December 2020 - online public event

Meeting Materials What began in 1997 as an annual meeting for the Dutch materials science community, existing of a dozen researchers, students and our industrial partners has blossomed into an invigorating event about innovations in materials. This year we expect over 400 participants, representatives from SME’s to renowned industrial manufacturing companies, and from international universities and research institutes.

Different than usual and earlier announcements, this year the M2i Conference will take place virtually. The Program consists of interesting workshops and presentations and of course a lot of opportunities to expand your network.

Meeting Materials is free of charge and open for everyone who is interested in materials development. The conference is an opportunity to learn about the latest insights and developments in the field of innovative and smart materials, along with ways in which these materials can stimulate economic progress and a sustainable society. This day is co-organised with 4TU.HTM and supported by the Bond voor Materialenkennis (BvM).

Special topics National Agenda Materials by prof.dr. Polman The MaterialenNL platform consists of the bundling of academic parties, applied research organizations, universities of applied sciences and industrial parties and sector organizations. On behalf of the Top Sectors Chemistry, Energy and High Tech Systems & Materials, the platform has complied this agenda. It demonstrates that the Dutch economy largely depends on materials and that new and improved materials have an enormous impact on our daily lives. The agenda describes the research directions in which these parties wish to collaborate.

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Additive Manufacturing Design Contest for Young Engineers During its annual conference Meeting Materials, M2i will organise an open Additive Manufacturing Design Contest for young engineers. Therefore all young engineers and researchers are invited to design a novel product, to be printed with wire arc additive manufacturing.

More information and registration for the Design Contest>

Topics of the other sessions: • • • • •

Durability & Reliability of Structures Tribology Qualify & Hechting II Additive Manufacturing & Metals Materials for Energy

Keynote Speakers M2i is very happy to announce this year’s Keynote Speakers: Prof.dr. B.M. Weckhuysen (University of Utrecht), Mr. A. Offringa (GKN Aerospace), Prof.dr.

L.P.H. de Goey (Eindhoven University of Technology), Mr. J. Broekhuijsen (Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding) and Prof.dr.

M.A. Loi (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen).

EVENTS The corona crisis makes it uncertain whether events will actually take place on the scheduled date. Many events are postponed, sometimes to 2021. The Agenda below shows the state of affairs as of November 2020.

For recent updates: www.innovatiememmaterialen.nl Architect@Work 2020 Deutschland 25 - 26 November 2020, Wiesbaden

JEC World 2021 9 - 11 March 2021, Paris

European Bioplastics Conference 1 - 2 December 2020, Vienna

EuroBLECH 2021, 9 - 12 March 2021, Hannover

Lijmen 26 November 2020, Veldhoven

Additive Manufacturing Forum 2021 11 - 12 March 2021, Berlin

World Biomaterials Congress, 11 - 15 December 2020, online

Solids 2021 17 - 18 March 2021, Dortmund

International Symposium on Bituminous Materials 14 - 16 December 2020, Lyon

9th Conference on CO2-based Fuels and Chemicals 23 - 24 March 2021, Cologne

Meating Materials 2020 15 December 2020, online

Metav reloaded 2021 23 - 26 March 2021, DĂźsseldorf

BAU 2021 13 - 15 January 2021, Munich

Lijmen BelgiĂŤ 6 April 2021, KU Leuven Campus Brugge

2nd International Conference on Cellulose Fibres 2 - 3 Febuary 2021, Cologne

Hannover Messe 12 - 16 April 2021, Hannover

NGA glass conference 2021, 9 Febuary 2021, online

Steinexpo 2021, 14 - 17 April 2021, Homberg

Ulmer Betontage 2021 23 - 25 Febuary 2021, Ulm

Nordbygg 2021 20 - 23 April 2021, Stockholm

Maintenance Dortmund 2021 24 - 25 February 2021

Nederlandse Metaaldagen 21 - 23 April 2021, Den Bosch

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Innovative Materials, the international version of the Dutch magazine Innovatieve Materialen, is now available in English. Innovative Materials is an interactive, digital magazine about new and/or innovatively applied materials.

Innovative Materials provides information on material innovations, or innovative use of materials. The idea is that the ever increasing demands lead to a constant search for better and safer products as well as material and energy savings. Enabling these innovations is crucial, not only to be competitive but also to meet the challenges of enhancing and protecting the environment, like durability, C2C and carbon footprint.

By opting for smart, sustainable and innovative materials constructors, engineers and designers obtain more opportunities to distinguish themselves.

As a platform Innovative Materials wants to help to achieve this by connecting supply and demand.

Innovative Materials is distributed among its own subscribers/network, but also through the networks of the partners. In 2019 this includes organisations like M2i, MaterialDesign, 4TU (a cooperation between the four Technical Universities in the Netherlands), the Bond voor Materialenkennis (material sciences), SIM Flanders, FLAM3D, RVO and Material District.