Experimentation of natural materials: the use of chitin in additive manufacturing

Abstract

Given the possibility of using living materials and integrating them into architecture and digital fabrication, we propose a set of mixtures. Chitin is the second most abundant biopolymer in the world after cellulose and is found in the shells of crustaceans, on the walls of fungi and molluscs, and also in some algae (Azevedo et al. 2007). This biopolymer can lead to versatile and biodegradable bioplastics by converting seafood residues. According to Reyz et al. (2013), the transformation process in the laboratory for chitin extraction involves three working phases: demineralization, deproteinization and depigmentation until it is ready for use. Moreover, the possibility of combining it with cellulose – the most abundant material in nature – holds great potential for the development of mixtures that can be used to produce components for contemporary architecture. This research focuses on the manipulation of mixtures based on biomaterials that can be easily considered as substitutes for other materials found in our daily lives. The method used in this work involves the study of the characteristics, properties and transformation process of chitin. The study described justifies the performance of a set of tests to evaluate the viability and workability of each mixture, which consists in the analysis of their properties – strength, viscosity, durability, shrinkage, cracking, colour loss, curing time, plasticity. Then, using additive manufacturing (AM) techniques such as Paste Extrusion Modeling (PEM) and through the use of computer modelling tools, we aim to test the printing of simple grids.