07-02-2018: Kai Parthy – innovator and expert in “weird” filaments released GROWLAY
It was a bio-degradable 3D printing material for indoor farming
On July 2, 2018, Kai Parthy - German inventor, who creates, among many other various things, innovative filaments for 3Dprinters, presented his latest work – GROWLAY. This material went beyond any previously known limits of usefulness or ways of thinking about 3D printing, because it was used… to grow plants, fungi or other living organisms.
How did it work? GROWLAY material was used to create geometric structures on a 3D printer that were conducive to plant growth. After adding water, seeds or spores of any kind of plant were starting to grow on the surface of filament. The key point was the micro-capillary nature of the layered thermoplastic material. Its cavities absorbed and stored water, and dissolved liquid nutriented or fertilizered. It was an absorbent carrier for the agents, providing a stable structure to which grass seeds or moss could adhere.
Structures made from GRWOLAY could also be inhabited by other types of organisms – lichens, fungi, specific types of mold (including the one that gives a characteristic taste to blue cheese) but also bacterial cultures that can be used in pharmacy. The filament was presented in two variants: white – 100% biodegradable that could be composted and brown – a version dedicated to long-term applications.
Kai Parthy is a very fascinating person. Originally from East Germany, in the 1980s, in the waning days of communism, he emigrated to Hamburg, where he started producing shoes for theatre dancers. At the same time, he worked on many inventions which he gradually patented (he has at least a dozen of them to his credit).
In 2011, at the Euromold trade fair, he saw a 3D printer, which he bought and started his first experiments with materials. In the garage, he created the already legendary LAYWOO-D3 (wood), LAYWOO-D3 FLEX (flexible wood), LAYBRICK (sandstone) and LAYFOAM ("sponge-like").
Source: www.3dprinting.com