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BioE Seminar: Polymeric hydrogels and bioplastics for additive manufacturing

Alshakim Nelson, PhD
Thursday, September 03, 2020
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Alshakim Nelson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Washington

In this seminar, I will present two different polymer platforms that we have developed for direct ink write 3D printing and vat photopolymerization. In the first part of my seminar, I will discuss the development of stimuli-responsive triblock copolymer hydrogels for fabricating immobilized cell bioreactors. These hydrogels were used to incorporate engineered microbes for the fabrication of immobilized cell bioreactors that were utilized in the on-demand bio-production of molecules. In the second part of my seminar, I will discuss a two-step additive manufacturing process to fabricate protein-based constructs using a commercially available laser-scanning SLA printer. Methacrylated bovine serum albumin (MA-BSA) was synthesized and formulated into aqueous resins that was used to print complex 3D geometrical constructs with a resolution comparable to a commercially available resin. Compression studies of hydrated and dehydrated constructs demonstrated a broad range of compressive strengths and Young's moduli that could be further modulated by adjusting the type and amount of co-monomer.

Registrants will receive Zoom information by email. Registration link: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9z7OkM8kHviYDpH