3D Bioplotter Research Papers
Towards sustainable, direct printed, organic transistors with biocompatible copolymer gate dielectrics
We have investigated the potential of three dielectric materials to meet the future demands of green dielectrics: Polycaprolactone (PCL) thermoplastic, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-carrageenan (CAR) crosslinked biopolymer, and boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) as a nano additive in PVA. Metal–insulator–metal (MIM) capacitors and organic thin film transistors (OTFT) were built with bilayer dielectric stacks of PVA-CAR, PVA-PCL, and PVA-BNNT materials to examine their electrical properties. The PVA-CAR layer uses a cyclic freeze thaw process to crosslink PVA and CAR for superior mechanical and electrical properties to either material alone. The PVA-CAR MIM capacitors showed a dielectric constant of 23, which was found…
Understanding the Interfacial Adhesion between Natural Silk and Polycaprolactone for Fabrication of Continuous Silk Biocomposites
The poor interfacial adhesion between silk fiber and polyester species remains a critical problem for the optimal mechanical performance of silk-reinforced polyester composites. Here, we investigated in quantitative terms the interfacial properties between natural silk fibers and polycaprolactone (PCL) at nano-, micro-, and macroscales and fabricated continuous silk-PCL composite filaments by melt extrusion and drawing processing of PCL melt at 100, 120, and 140 °C. Bombyx mori (Bm) silk, Antheraea pernyi (Ap) silk, and polyamide6 (PA6) fiber were compared to the composite with PCL. The Ap silk exhibited the highest surface energy, the best wettability, and the largest interfacial shear…