3D Printing with Bacterial Cellulose-Based Bioactive Composites for Design Applications

The bacterial cellulose (BC) biofilms are explored in design applications as replacements to petroleum-based materials in order to overcome the irreversible effects of the Anthropocene. Unlike biomaterials, designers as mediators could collaborate with bioactive polymers as a form of wetware to manufacture living design products with the aid of novel developments in biology and engineering. Past and ongoing experiments in the literature show that BC has a strong nanofibril structure that provides adhesion for attachment to plant cellulose-based networks and it could grow on the surfaces of the desired geometry thanks to its inherited, yet, controllable bio-intelligence. This research explores BC-based bioactive composites as wetware within the context of digital fabrication in which the methodology involves distinct, yet integrated, three main stages: Digital design and G-code generation (software stage); BC cultivation and printable bioactive composite formulation (wetware stage); digital fabrication with a customized 3D printer (hardware stage). The results have shown that the interaction of BC and plant-based cellulose fibers of jute yarns has enhanced the structural load-bearing capacity of the form against compressive forces, while pure BC is known only by its tensile strength. Since the outcomes were fabricated with the use of a bioactive material, the degradation process also adds a fourth dimension: Time, by which the research findings could further establish a bio-upcycling process of wastes towards biosynthesis of valuable products. Moreover, developing a BC-based bioactive filament indicates potentially a feasible next step in the evolution of multiscale perspectives on the growth of habitable living structures that could reinforce the interaction between nature and architecture through collaboration with software, hardware, and wetware in innovative and sustainable ways.