The footprint of our existence has had a catastrophic impact on ecosystems globally. In particular, coral reefs are being decimated by human-induced conditions quicker than can recover and grow. However, novel application of a 3D printed coral, in the form of the material substrate Calcium Carbonate, can help combat this phenomenon. More specifically, Calcium Carbonate is 3D printed to mimic the materiality which makes up the hard structural home of Coral’s living polyp inhabitants. This unique material development has led to the invention of a working prototype in support of a wide range of ocean life ecosystems by fabricating and reseeding a 3D printed synthetic calcium carbonate scaffold. The 3D printed coral is currently being tested with 3D printed structures, tiles, and frags used to further research and test live applications and support of coral seeding, regrowth, as well as a biological substrate for the growth of other ocean life. Infact, research and prototyping has shown that not only does this 3D printed calcium carbonate support coral growth but many other aquatic organisms that together foster the health of aquatic ecosystem.

This project and application goes beyond simply a substrate to seed and supplement the growth of coral, but creates a link between our anthropocentric built environment and surrounding natural ecosystems. What once was a hard edge, being our coastlines and interface with water bodies, is now being explored as a softer edge as we reconsider our interface between the world beyond buildings. This project has applications in coast line infrastructure, aquaculture, and bio remediation as substrate and surface to foster growth of aquatic organisms.

Alternative materials for underwater fabrication, such as Concrete and other land based materials of the built environment, often leach undesirable by products and contribute a large carbon footprint in the process of their own production. However, new techniques of Carbon capture and sequestration from our atmosphere, essentially removing harmful CO2 from our environment, can also create a renewable source of Calcium Carbonate while helping diminish our growing CO2 pollution. By combining design and material innovation with the rapid and customizable fabrication potential of 3D printing, this unique application for ocean life conservation can be readily deployed at various scales in any unique environment.

For millennia, Coral polyps (the soft, living organism of coral) have developed their own method of capturing carbon, as CO2,  from ocean water and converting it to calcium carbonate, CaCO3, making up the hard skeleton scaffold in which the polyps inhabit. The novel method in application of 3DP CaCO3 is in recreating a similar material composition through contemporary fabrication methods of 3D printing. By utilizing the friable nature of CaCO3 and its sedimentary properties as a viable solution in fabrication of solid substrate objects, this project has secured a proprietary patent pending for production and application of 3D-printed calcium carbonate material. Pictured above is a 3D binder jet printer loaded with our proprietary material, with a print freshly completed and buried within its print bed.

The hard white skeleton (similar to what is being printed, seen above) is not the living part of the coral, but instead more like its exoskeleton that houses the soft colorful organism of the coral called the polyp. The goal is to print the scaffold for a "house" of which biological organisms will inhabit and grow their own new homes and communities. Once embedded, marine life can take advantage of a substrate most similar to their native home. The image above shows a set of coral frags freshly printed. These frags are then embedded with young baby coral and used for further propagation. This can happen at multiple scales and in many conditions. It's not just coral that benefits from inhabiting these objects, various studies have shown that marine life thrives from biodiversity in an abundance of organisms from the size of algae to fish.