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Micro-topology Research

2021

Research was conducted to fabricate micro-topologies by stamping 3D printed micro-topographic molds onto carbonized bread. The two topologies that were tested were a step function and a sine wave function which were designed using SolidWorks. These micro-features on the carbonized bread act as electrodes and can potentially be used in water desalination.

Process for stamping bread

Abstract

In the research for water desalination, electrodes are established to attract salt ions away from the water and create fresh water supplies. This research intended to develop and fabricate topological patterns into electrodes at the smallest possible scale using stereolithography resin 3D printing techniques, along with SolidWorks modeling of the features. The electrodes were made on a small scale using leftover bread waste, an affordable and sustainable product, by stamping the 3D printed model onto the bread with an applied force. Three topological features were produced on a 15 mm by 15 mm model: a square wave, a sine wave, and a second sine wave feature that was cross-extruded. While the first two features are longitudinally 15 mm long, the cross-extruded sine wave feature creates a mountain peak affect and does not have a long feature the length of the chip. The widths and heights of the features that were 3D printed onto the molds were minimized from 1 mm to 2 mm. Once the models were implemented into the bread, the process of turning the bread into an electrode further shrunk the features onto a scale of roughly 200 to 500 microns. 

© 2021 Zachary Kuzel, Industrial Engineering. Created with Wix.com

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