3D Printed Molecules and Extended Solid Models for Teaching Symmetry and Point Groups

Scalfani, Vincent F.; Vaid, Thomas P.

doi:10.1021/ed400887t

Cited by 149 publications

(147 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…The value of hand-held, physical models in support of student learning is well documented in the education literature (7)(8)(9)(10). While commercial model building kits have long been a great asset for students learning organic structure, most of these kits have limitations with regard to how they can be used to depict accurate bond lengths and angles (11). As will be demonstrated herein, 3D printing represents a powerful new tool that can be utilized by chemists to create more realistic, tangible models of molecular structures.…”

Section: The Millennial Edgementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even though the PMV (and several other applications) are capable of creating an .stl file which can subsequently be opened and viewed on the computer, in practice these .stl files can often contain defects in the polygon mesh that will prohibit 3D printing (11). Attempts to 3D print a defective .stl file will usually result in a failed print job.…”

Section: Using Molecular Drawing Software (Freeware) To Create a Simpmentioning

confidence: 99%

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3D Printing in the Chemistry Curriculum: Inspiring Millennial Students To Be Creative Innovators

Violante

Nunez

Ryan

et al. 2014

ACS Symposium Series

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Educators should certainly keep in mind the positive attributes of millennial learners as we consider new curricular approaches. In this spirit, a 3D printing in chemistry initiative has been undertaken at Stetson University that draws upon the technological prowess of millennial undergraduate students. 3D printing activities have been incorporated in the curriculum whereby students are challenged to create a variety of chemical models.Together, these activities represent a highly motivational means of getting students to further engage in chemistry, while at the same time practicing and demonstrating the skills of creativity/innovation, collaboration, and technological literacy deemed vital for 21 st century professionals. The costs, compactness, low maintenance, and overall reliability of 3D printers have trended favorably in recent years to an extent that it is now possible to implement this technology within most academic settings. To the chemist, 3D printing represents a powerful new tool for creating more realistic, tangible models of molecular structures. 3D printing exercises can be incorporated in the curriculum as student lab assignments, out-of-class independent study or group projects for credit, or senior research projects. Several student projects are presented, ranging from the printing of simple ball-and-stick models of common chemical structures to the fabrication of more realistic, space-filling models of proteins and molecular

show abstract

Section: The Millennial Edgementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Using Molecular Drawing Software (Freeware) To Create a Simpmentioning

confidence: 99%

3D Printing in the Chemistry Curriculum: Inspiring Millennial Students To Be Creative Innovators

Violante

Nunez

Ryan

et al. 2014

ACS Symposium Series

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Examples include liver model used for surgical planning [9] . At molecular level, biomolecular models are created based on crystallographic information [10] . These visual models are helpful in studying molecular interactions and dynamics [11] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-printing surface modification and functionalization of 3D-printed biomedical device

Zhang¹

2024

IJB

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3D printing is a technology well-suited for biomedical applications due to its ability to create highly complex and arbitrary structures from personalized designs with a fast turnaround. However, due to a limited selection of 3D-printable materials, the biofunctionality of many 3D-printed components has not been paid enough attention. In this perspective, we point out that post-3D printing modification is the solution that could close the gap between 3D printing technology and desired biomedical functions. We identify architectural reconfiguration and surface functionalization as the two main post-3D printing modification processes and discuss potential techniques for post-3D printing modification to achieve desired biofunctionality.

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“…plastic molecular model kits, Styrofoam balls, beads). Perhaps the greatest advantage is that 3D printing is capable of fabricating extremely complex molecular structures that would be difficult or impossible to create with traditional molecular model fabrication techniques [1]. As such, numerous researchers have recently used 3D printed crystal structures to advance their teaching and research [1–7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Programmatic conversion of crystal structures into 3D printable files using Jmol

Scalfani

Williams²,

Tkachenko³

et al. 2016

J Cheminform

Self Cite

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BackgroundThree-dimensional (3D) printed crystal structures are useful for chemistry teaching and research. Current manual methods of converting crystal structures into 3D printable files are time-consuming and tedious. To overcome this limitation, we developed a programmatic method that allows for facile conversion of thousands of crystal structures directly into 3D printable files.ResultsA collection of over 30,000 crystal structures in crystallographic information file (CIF) format from the Crystallography Open Database (COD) were programmatically converted into 3D printable files (VRML format) using Jmol scripting. The resulting data file conversion of the 30,000 CIFs proceeded as expected, however some inconsistencies and unintended results were observed with co-crystallized structures, racemic mixtures, and structures with large counterions that led to 3D printable files not containing the desired chemical structure. Potential solutions to these challenges are considered and discussed. Further, a searchable Jmol 3D Print website was created that allows users to both discover the 3D file dataset created in this work and create custom 3D printable files for any structure in the COD.ConclusionsOver 30,000 crystal structures were programmatically converted into 3D printable files, allowing users to have quick access to a sizable collection of 3D printable crystal structures. Further, any crystal structure (>350,000) in the COD can now be conveniently converted into 3D printable file formats using the Jmol 3D Print website created in this work. The 3D Print website also allows users to convert their own CIFs into 3D printable files. 3D file data, scripts, and the Jmol 3D Print website are provided openly to the community in an effort to promote discovery and use of 3D printable crystal structures. The 3D file dataset and Jmol 3D Print website will find wide use with researchers and educators seeking to 3D print chemical structures, while the scripts will be useful for programmatically converting large database collections of crystal structures into 3D printable files.

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3D Printed Molecules and Extended Solid Models for Teaching Symmetry and Point Groups

Cited by 149 publications

References 44 publications

3D Printing in the Chemistry Curriculum: Inspiring Millennial Students To Be Creative Innovators

3D Printing in the Chemistry Curriculum: Inspiring Millennial Students To Be Creative Innovators

Post-printing surface modification and functionalization of 3D-printed biomedical device

Programmatic conversion of crystal structures into 3D printable files using Jmol

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