Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T12:39:12.300Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

3D printing of gels with living photosynthetic algae

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2016

Paul Calvert*
Affiliation:
New Mexico Tech., Socorro NM 87801
*
Get access

Abstract

Chlorella is a green, photosynthetic single-celled genus of algae. It can be 3D printed as a suspension in sodium alginate and gelled with calcium solutions. We have made “log pile” structures with channels between the gel lines to allow easy transport of nutrients and products. Under white light and immersed in solutions of bicarbonate and phosphate and urea “plant food” the algae multiply with the gel and produce oxygen at a rate comparable to that reported for suspensions of Chlorella. The system is stable for one or two weeks at least. In principle this can be extended to other plant tissues but there are concerns relating to bacterial and fungal infection and toxicity of the gel components. In addition a tougher gel is needed if this was to be converted to a practical bioreactor system.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Murphy, S.V. and Atala, A. Nature Biotechnology 32, 773785 (2014)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mishra, S., Scarano, F.J. and Calvert, P. J Biomed Mater Res Part A 100, 28292838 (2012).Google Scholar
Mishra, S., Scarano, F.J. and Calvert, P. J Biomed Mater Res Part A 103, 32373249 (2015)Google Scholar
Lode, A., Krujatz, F., Brüggemeier, S., Quadel, M., Schütz, K., Knaack, S., Jost Weber, , Bley, T. and Gelinsky, M., Engineering in Life Sciences 15, 177183, (2015)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, E.L., Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 22, 504511, (1936)Google Scholar
Graham, J.E., Wilcox, L.W. and Graham, L.E. Algae 2nd Ed. (Benjamin Cummings, San Francisco CA, 2008)Google Scholar