玉米和可生物降解塑料、解放军、the material used in almost every desktop 3D printer, has been researched for its potential industrial applications. The material is particularly desirable in place of other plastics, like ABS, as they are typically petroleum-based and harmful to the environment.
With research dating back to 2008, Professor Alan Lau and his research teams have been looking into ways to make PLA suited to biomedical applications. Now atSwinburne技术大学，劳教授has revealed调查已经准备好让合作者测试生物体中的材料。在此阶段之后，设计的PLA复合材料可以进行临床试验，这可能导致其用作人类的替代医学植入物。
有毒塑料和金属的替代品
Medical implants, used to pin together broken bones and create support in the body, are typically made from metal, i.e. stainless steel or titanium, or a high strength plastic like PEEK. Though these implants have the structural integrity required in bone repair, their main disadvantage is that the implant has to be removed at a later stage in the patient’s life. Removal of the constructs can leave bones brittle, and also causes more risk to the patient through a subsequent operation.
PLA by comparison does not have the structural integrity of materials like steel and PEEK. It’s gradual absorbance into the body however, makes the material a more attractive alternative. And so Professor Lau’s research has been looking at ways to improve the strength of PLA.
One of the strongest fibers in nature
Silk is one of the strongest fibers in the natural world. Made of a triangular cross-section of connecting fibroin proteins, the material forms hydrogen bonds within its structure, which is the secret to its strength.
In Professor Lau’s research, silk fibers are added to PLA as a structural reinforcement.
In在第9届国际加工和制造高级材料的研讨会上提出的结果, adding silk proved to increase the Young’s modulus of the material. To start, the base PLA presented a GPa of 3.21. When the silk was added, this increased by 27% to 4.08 GPa, putting the stiffness more inline with the properties of nylon or MDF, but still retaining biodegradability.
Strengthening bones with 3D printed silk
在Swinburne技术大学的当前应用中，Lau教授的团队正在努力从丝绸PLA复合材料中创建外科销钉和笼子。Speaking to Research Impact magazine, Lau also envisions the fabrication of custom made implants in the material using 3D printing and scanning techniques. He says,“At this stage we have a great accomplishment, but there’s still a long way to go.”
佛罗里达大学的研究，在韩国还一直在调查丝绸的应用在3D可打印材料中。相比之下，在CWRU石墨烯碳纳米管已经被添加到解放军in another attempt to make the material stronger for medical application.
对于所有最新的3D印刷新闻和研究订阅我们的免费新闻通讯. If you want to join the conversation thenfollow the most popular社交媒体帐户3D打印行业.
特色image: SEM image of the surface of PLA plastic. Image via Ho, Lau, Wang & Bhattacharyya
