In modern manufacturing, it is a widely accepted limitation that the parts patterned by an additive or subtractive manufacturing process (i.e., a lathe, mill, or 3D printer) must be smaller than the machine itself that produced them. Once such parts are manufactured, they can be postprocessed, fastened together, welded, or adhesively bonded to form larger structures. We have developed a foaming prepolymer resin for lithographic additive manufacturing, which can be expanded after printing to produce parts up to 40× larger than their original volume. This allows for the fabrication of structures significantly larger than the build volume of the 3D printer that produced them. Complex geometries comprised of porous foams have implications in technologically demanding fields such as architecture, aerospace, energy, and biomedicine. This manuscript presents a comprehensive screening process for resin formulations, detailed analysis of printing parameters, and observed mechanical properties of the 3D-printed foams.

Proteinaceous nanoparticles can be used to deliver large payloads of active ingredients, which is advantageous in medicine and agriculture. However, the conjugation of hydrophobic ligands to hydrophilic nanocarriers such as plant viral nanoparticles (plant VNPs) can result in aggregation by reducing overall solubility. Given the benefits of hydrophilic nanocarrier platforms for targeted delivery and multivalent ligand display, coupled with the versatility of hydrophobic drugs, contrast agents, and peptides, this is an issue that must be addressed to realize their full potential. Here, we report two preincubation strategies that use a Pluronic F127 polymer scaffold to prevent the aggregation of conjugated plant VNPs: a plant VNP–polymer precoat (COAT) and an active ingredient formulation combined with a plant VNP–polymer precoat (FORMCOAT). The broad applications of these modified conjugation strategies were highlighted by testing their compatibility with three types of bioconjugation chemistry: N-hydroxysuccinimide ester–amine coupling, maleimide–thiol coupling, and copper­(I)-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (click chemistry). The COAT and FORMCOAT strategies promoted efficient bioconjugation and prevented the aggregation that accompanies conventional bioconjugation methods, thus improving the stability, homogeneity, and translational potential of plant VNP conjugates in medicine and agriculture.

Polymeric nanofiber scaffolds are widely used for drug delivery, tissue engineering, and as advanced bandages. A high-throughput melt-processing method to fabricate polyester nanofibers was recently developed, as well as subsequent photochemical modification to generate functional fibers for use in tissue engineering and filtration. This work builds on these processes and details methods to develop antibacterial nanofiber mats. Melt coextrusion was used to fabricate poly­(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) nanofibers. The isolated fibers could then be modified using grafting-from or grafting-to strategies to install antimicrobial polymers on their surfaces. The antimicrobial mats derived from the grating-from strategy demonstrated superior antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, while maintaining biocompatibility. The work developed herein provides a scalable method to fabricate advanced, functional, nonwoven mats that show potential for use as advanced bandages.