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Rationale and Global Picture

Rationale

We develop sustainable manufacturing technologies that are combined with biomimetic, bioinspired or hierarchical design principles to create high performance materials. These materials stand out by their structural and multifunctional properties and have the potential to reduce the environmental impact in application. Among our strategies, we use 3D printing, abundant building blocks, and water as a solvent. Our research is multidisciplinary and operates at multiple lengthscales, from nano to macroscale.

Key words: manufacturing, sustainability, composites, ceramics, biomimicry, multifunctionality, high performance.
Applications: high performance and sustainable solutions for high power electronics, sensing systems, high temperature applications, implants, and the built environment, among others.


Selected publications depicting the overarching aims: 

  • Controlled local orientation of 2D nanomaterials in 3D devices: methods and prospects for multifunctional designs and enhanced performance, Journal of Materials Chemistry A (2022). 

  • Assessment of nacre-like ceramics in replacement to Ni superalloys in aircraft’s engines, Sustainable Materials and Technology (2022).

  • 3D printing towards a sustainable future, Accounts of Materials Research (2020).

Research focus areas

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Thematics
Water-based additive manufacturing of composites and ceramics.

Selected publications under this thematic area:

  • Continuous 3D printing of microstructured multifunctional materials, Additive manufacturing (2023).

  • Magnetically assisted drop-on-demand 3D printing of microstructured multimaterial composites, Nature Communications (2022).

  • Fabrication of microstructured calcium phosphate ceramics scaffolds by material extrusion-based 3D printing approach, International journal of bioprinting (2022).

  • Processing of dense bio-inspired ceramics with deliberate microtexture, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. (2019).

  • External fields for the fabrication of highly mineralized hierarchical architectures, J. Mater. Res. (2019).

Bio-inspired microstructured composites and ceramics.

Selected publications under this thematic area:​

  • Rational design and fabrication of hierarchical ceramics using bioinspired microstructures for tailorable strength and toughness, Cells Reports Physical Science (2024).

  • Izod impact resistance of 3D printed discontinuous fibrous composites with Bouligand microstructure, NPG Asia Materials (2023).

  • Ultrafast high-temperature sintering of textured alumina, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. (2022).

  • Energy dissipation in hybrid nacre-like helicoidal microstructures, Composites Part B (2022).

  • Bioinspired approaches to toughen calcium phosphate-based ceramics for bone repair, JMBBM (2020). 

High performance multifunctional materials.

Selected publications under this thematic area:

  • Modulation of the electromagnetic shielding effectiveness through micro/macrostructure design for electronic packaging, NPG Asia Materials (2024)

  • Thermal rectification in modularly designed bulk metamaterials, Advanced materials (2024). 

  • Microstructured BN composites with internally designed high thermal conductivity paths for 3D electronic packaging, 
    Advanced materials (2022). 

  • Programmable multistability for 3D printed reinforced multifunctional composites with reversible shape change,
    Compo. Sci. Tech. (2022).

  • Filtered mechanosensing using snapping composites with embedded mechano-electrical transduction, ACS Nano (2019).

Biodegradable and natural composites.

Selected publications under this thematic area:

  • Manipulating fungal growth in engineered living materials through precise deposition of nutrients, International Journal of Bioprinting (2024)

  • 3D printing of mycelium engineered living materials using a waste-based ink and non-sterile conditions, Materials & Design (2023).

  • Woodpile structural designs to increase the stiffness of mycelium-bound composites, Materials & Design (2023).

  • Temporal characterization of biocycles of mycelium-bound composites made from bamboo and Pleurotus ostreatus for indoor usage, Scientific Reports (2022).

  • Bioinspired self-shaping clay composites for sustainable development, Biomimetics (2022).

  • Development of an extrudable paste to build mycelium-bound composites, Materials & Design (2020).

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Facilities

Facilities

Some of the facilities and technologies we use in our lab: