Chemical lattice
ABSTRACT
This project tests an early stage prototype of a “3D-crystal printer”. In order to prove the viability of creating shapes from the growth of metallic salts, we developed a mechanism to ‘print’ right angles during the formation of the crystals. Metallic salts, when dropped in a sodium silicate solution react through a double decomposition reaction and form crystals that always grow in the upward direction. By engineering a rotational device that rotates the crystal in solution, we generated various shapes and right angle structures. The project used ‘Magic Rocks’ (metallic salts) as the prototyping crystals.
The Process:
This was a group project out of the Tangible Interfaces class ran by Prof. Hiroshii Ishii of the Tangible Media Group.
Group members: Arwa Mboya, Cindy Bishop, Montserrat Ciges, Joao Wilbert and Je Sung Lee