3D Edible Printing: Food-grade Materials with Binder Jetting Printers

Food binder jetting, an innovative additive manufacturing method, involves creating 3D objects by selectively depositing liquid binders in the powder bed based on a predesigned model. Despite its numerous advantages over other 3D printing technologies, such as the ability to manufacture coloured products using food colouring and the absence of heating or support structures during printing, the development of this technology is still in its infancy and largely relies on trial-and-error methods. This is primarily due to a lack of understanding of the underlying material interactions that occur throughout the printing process, particularly across different food systems. Therefore, this research, which is at the forefront of its field, aims to systematically study the connections between the chemical composition of materials and the properties of printed products.

With a meticulous approach, we carefully selected powders from various food systems and a liquid binder from existing literature to create 3D-printed products. We then embarked on a comprehensive analysis of the differences in the characteristics of these printing materials and the variations in the properties of the printed products. Our investigation included a rigorous correlation test between measured properties to identify significant connections between material properties and printed product properties.

The study's significant findings revealed that there are indeed relationships between material characteristics and printed product properties in three different powders. Notably, powder characteristics were found to largely determine the properties of 3D-printed products. As a result, we can now estimate the value of a material or product property if the measurement of its connecting factor is known, providing valuable insights for future research and development in this field.