Additive Manufacturing Enabled by Electrospinning for Tougher Bio-Inspired Materials

Nature has taught us fascinating strategies to design materials such that they exhibit superior and novel properties. Shells of mantis club have protein fibres arranged in a 3D helicoidal architecture that give them remarkable strength and toughness, enabling them to absorb high-impact energy. This...

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Main Authors: Komal Agarwal, Yinning Zhou, Hashina Parveen Anwar Ali, Ihor Radchenko, Avinash Baji, Arief S. Budiman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2018-01-01
Series:Advances in Materials Science and Engineering
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/8460751
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author Komal Agarwal
Yinning Zhou
Hashina Parveen Anwar Ali
Ihor Radchenko
Avinash Baji
Arief S. Budiman
author_facet Komal Agarwal
Yinning Zhou
Hashina Parveen Anwar Ali
Ihor Radchenko
Avinash Baji
Arief S. Budiman
author_sort Komal Agarwal
collection DOAJ
description Nature has taught us fascinating strategies to design materials such that they exhibit superior and novel properties. Shells of mantis club have protein fibres arranged in a 3D helicoidal architecture that give them remarkable strength and toughness, enabling them to absorb high-impact energy. This complex architecture is now possible to replicate with the recent advances in additive manufacturing. In this paper, we used melt electrospinning to fabricate 3D polycaprolactone (PCL) fibrous design to mimic the natural helicoidal structures found in the shells of the mantis shrimp’s dactyl club. To improve the tensile deformation behavior of the structures, the surface of each layer of the samples were treated with carboxyl and amino groups. The toughness of the surface-treated helicoidal sample was found to be two times higher than the surface-treated unidirectional sample and five times higher than the helicoidal sample without surface treatment. Free amino groups (NH2) were introduced on the surface of the fibres and membrane via surface treatment to increase the interaction and adhesion among the different layers of membranes. We believe that this represents a preliminary feasibility in our attempt to mimic the 3D helicoidal architectures at small scales, and we still have room to improve further using even smaller fibre sizes of the modeled architectures. These lightweight synthetic analogue materials enabled by electrospinning as an additive manufacturing methodology would potentially display superior structural properties and functionalities such as high strength and extreme toughness.
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institution Kabale University
issn 1687-8434
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publishDate 2018-01-01
publisher Wiley
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series Advances in Materials Science and Engineering
spelling doaj-art-eff41065babb49b68023a7983cc84b2a2025-02-03T05:59:53ZengWileyAdvances in Materials Science and Engineering1687-84341687-84422018-01-01201810.1155/2018/84607518460751Additive Manufacturing Enabled by Electrospinning for Tougher Bio-Inspired MaterialsKomal Agarwal0Yinning Zhou1Hashina Parveen Anwar Ali2Ihor Radchenko3Avinash Baji4Arief S. Budiman5Engineering Product Development Pillar, Singapore University of Technology and Design, 487372, SingaporeXtreme Materials Laboratory (XML), Singapore University of Technology and Design, 487372, SingaporeXtreme Materials Laboratory (XML), Singapore University of Technology and Design, 487372, SingaporeXtreme Materials Laboratory (XML), Singapore University of Technology and Design, 487372, SingaporeEngineering Product Development Pillar, Singapore University of Technology and Design, 487372, SingaporeXtreme Materials Laboratory (XML), Singapore University of Technology and Design, 487372, SingaporeNature has taught us fascinating strategies to design materials such that they exhibit superior and novel properties. Shells of mantis club have protein fibres arranged in a 3D helicoidal architecture that give them remarkable strength and toughness, enabling them to absorb high-impact energy. This complex architecture is now possible to replicate with the recent advances in additive manufacturing. In this paper, we used melt electrospinning to fabricate 3D polycaprolactone (PCL) fibrous design to mimic the natural helicoidal structures found in the shells of the mantis shrimp’s dactyl club. To improve the tensile deformation behavior of the structures, the surface of each layer of the samples were treated with carboxyl and amino groups. The toughness of the surface-treated helicoidal sample was found to be two times higher than the surface-treated unidirectional sample and five times higher than the helicoidal sample without surface treatment. Free amino groups (NH2) were introduced on the surface of the fibres and membrane via surface treatment to increase the interaction and adhesion among the different layers of membranes. We believe that this represents a preliminary feasibility in our attempt to mimic the 3D helicoidal architectures at small scales, and we still have room to improve further using even smaller fibre sizes of the modeled architectures. These lightweight synthetic analogue materials enabled by electrospinning as an additive manufacturing methodology would potentially display superior structural properties and functionalities such as high strength and extreme toughness.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/8460751
spellingShingle Komal Agarwal
Yinning Zhou
Hashina Parveen Anwar Ali
Ihor Radchenko
Avinash Baji
Arief S. Budiman
Additive Manufacturing Enabled by Electrospinning for Tougher Bio-Inspired Materials
Advances in Materials Science and Engineering
title Additive Manufacturing Enabled by Electrospinning for Tougher Bio-Inspired Materials
title_full Additive Manufacturing Enabled by Electrospinning for Tougher Bio-Inspired Materials
title_fullStr Additive Manufacturing Enabled by Electrospinning for Tougher Bio-Inspired Materials
title_full_unstemmed Additive Manufacturing Enabled by Electrospinning for Tougher Bio-Inspired Materials
title_short Additive Manufacturing Enabled by Electrospinning for Tougher Bio-Inspired Materials
title_sort additive manufacturing enabled by electrospinning for tougher bio inspired materials
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/8460751
work_keys_str_mv AT komalagarwal additivemanufacturingenabledbyelectrospinningfortougherbioinspiredmaterials
AT yinningzhou additivemanufacturingenabledbyelectrospinningfortougherbioinspiredmaterials
AT hashinaparveenanwarali additivemanufacturingenabledbyelectrospinningfortougherbioinspiredmaterials
AT ihorradchenko additivemanufacturingenabledbyelectrospinningfortougherbioinspiredmaterials
AT avinashbaji additivemanufacturingenabledbyelectrospinningfortougherbioinspiredmaterials
AT ariefsbudiman additivemanufacturingenabledbyelectrospinningfortougherbioinspiredmaterials