3D printing has revolutionized the way we
make stuff.
And the technology is evolving -- fast!
Advances in 3D printing have made it possible
to print things we never could before -- like
tiny batteries and super effective water filters.
And we might even be able to use 3D printing
to colonize other worlds, starting with the
Moon.
3D printing is sometimes known as additive
manufacturing, which should give you some
idea of how it works:
You program a 3D printer with a design, and
it builds a thing according to that design,
generally by stacking layers of material on
top of each other.
But one problem that’s come up is that it’s
hard to 3D print on a small scale.
If you’re printing something that’s, say,
5 hundredths of a millimeter wide, every fraction
of a millimeter counts.
But 3D printers are getting more precise all
the time.
In 2013, a team of American researchers managed
to 3D print extra-efficient batteries the
size of a grain of sand.
To make their miniature batteries, the team
created a special kind of ink with lithium-ion
nanoparticles in it.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because lithium-ion
batteries are in almost everything you use,
from your smartphone to your hybrid car.
And like all batteries, they work using electrodes
and an electrolyte.
A current passes between the electrodes by
flowing through the electrolyte, providing
electrical power.
So engineers used that special ink in a custom-made
3D printer, which printed stacks of electrodes,
each thinner than a human hair.
Then they put the stacks in an electrolyte
solution, to provide a medium for the current
to pass through.
And that was it!
They had a very tiny battery, that turned
out to be just as efficient as the kind you
can buy at the store.
These new nano-printed batteries may soon
wind up in microscopic technologies, like
miniature cameras, tiny medical implants,
and adorable little nanobots.
Another new invention that only exists because
of 3D printing?
Better water filters.
Water filters use membranes that trap particles
you don’t want, along with potentially dangerous
microbes.
The problem is, most membranes get clogged
up pretty easily.
But in 2014, a company in Singapore developed
a 3D printed membrane using an ink made out
of titanium dioxide, which develops the ability
to kill microbes when it’s exposed to UV
light, like from the Sun.
So when water passes through the UV-exposed
membrane, any dangerous microbes die.
And the membrane also breaks down organic
compounds, so they don’t stick around and
clog it up.
So scientists are using 3D printing to develop
all kinds of new ideas here on Earth.
But it’s also helping us explore space.
In fact, there’s a 3D printer on the International
Space Station right now!
And in 2014, astronauts used it to 3D print
objects in space for the first time ever.
Most common objects are printed out of a kind
of plastic, often referred to as resin.
And NASA engineers wanted to see if things
like tools could be printed in space -- if
so, crew members could print whatever they
needed on the fly.
But researchers weren’t sure if weightlessness
would affect the strength of resin.
So the ISS crew conducted a test, and printed
an ordinary ratchet wrench and 19 other objects,
like containers and spare parts, on board
the station.
When the stuff they printed was sent back
to Earth for testing, researchers found that
the plastic was as strong as plastic 3D printed
on the ground.
Which means 3D printing can be used on the
space station and on future long-term missions,
allowing crew members to print any replacement
parts they need.
And speaking of long-term missions: the European
Space Agency is planning to use 3D printing
to help build a colony on the Moon.
Their plan -- which is still in the very earliest
stages -- is to first send robots to the Moon
to collect raw material: the lunar regolith,
aka Moon rocks.
Then, giant 3D printers would be sent to use
the regolith to make things like tools and
even entire buildings.
It might sound like something out of a science
fiction novel, but researchers are already
developing designs for printable structures
that would protect against radiation and small
meteoroids.
To prove that it’s possible, they’ve already
printed a 1.5 metric ton building block made
of synthetic regolith.
So the first Moon colonists might live and
work ... in a 3D printed town!
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