3D Printing Vegemite and Marmite:

Redefining ‘Breadboards’

Charles Hamilton

University of Wollongong

Primary Supervisor: Prof. Marc in het Panhuis

E-mail: cah170@uowmail.edu.au

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Takeaways

- Rheological properties of materials are critical to different aspects of FLM

-These properties are (generally) highly tunable

- FLM and pre-existing commercially available food products can be used in unique

and creative ways – Food today can be more than just sustenance

- Attractive food presentations

- Edible electronics devices

- Scientific outreach & learning activities

Source: google search

& vegemite.com.au

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3D Food Printing

Additive manufacturing process where a material is deposited layer-by-layer onto

a substrate to produce a 3-dimensional object

Coined ‘Food Layered Manufacturing’

- Useful in addressing malnutrition, dysphagia, specialized dietary requirements,

and more

- Numerous printable materials

Sun et al 2015

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History of Vegemite

1922 – Dr. Cyril P Callister developed a food spread from brewer’s yeast for a

company soon be Kraft Foods

This ‘Pure Vegetable Extract’ marketed for its ‘delicious’ taste was not successful

initially (Marmite was already widely established in Australia)

Renamed ‘Vegemite’ during a competition and eventually gained popularity

Vegemite.com.au

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History of Vegemite

-Staple during WWII and recommended by doctors to patients in the early 40s

-Exponentially grew in popularity

-Iconic Australian breakfast spread,

full of Vitamin B and nutrients

Happy Little Vegemites Commercial

-22 million jars are sold every year

Vegemite.com.au

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Printers Used

Custom CNC based Printer

-Zaber Linear Actuators

(Piston Driven)

-Gcode written by user

BioBot

-Commercially Available Pneumatic

System

-Heated Jacket

-Meant for bioprinting

-Gcode from slicing software

Pneumatic v. piston driven system, each has their advantages

Biobots.io

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Printing at Different Viscosities

Viscosity changes with temperature

Greatly affects integrity of printed structure

How can we predict this rather than trial & error?

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Vegemite

Marmite

Pa s

Temperature (C)

25°C

45°C

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Rheological Properties

Power Law Fluid

η = viscosity

γ = shear rate

K = consistency (viscosity at γ = 1)

n = power law index (non-newtownian nature)

Rabinowitsch-Mooney Equation

Q = volumetric flow rate

n = power law index

r = radius

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Rheological Properties

Yield Stress – How much pressure is

required to make the material flow like a

liquid

Analogous to pressure needed to squeeze

toothpaste out of a tube

How to avoid this

Bingham Model

σ = shear stress

σy = yield stress

η = viscosity

γ = shear rate

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Attractive Food Presentations

-Fun and festive, useful for celebratory events

-Can encourage children to eat a nutritious breakfast

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It’s Electric!

Vegemite and Marmite are inherently conductive

Can print edible circuits!

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Edible Electronics

Useful for GI tract monitoring, disease screening, and more

Material Conductivity

(mS/cm)

vegemite 20 ± 3

marmite 12.8 ± 0.5

Aeroplane jelly 154 ± 19

alginate/gelatin 194 ± 14

gellan

gum/gelatin204 ± 19

A. Keller et al 2016, MRS Proceedings

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Haptic Sensing

Gellan gum/ Gelatin

Electrodes

Gelatin

Dielectric

Pressure vs capacitance for five loading and

unloading cycles.Cyclic loading response of an edible pressure sensor.

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3

8

13

18

23

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

0 1 2 3 4 5

C -

C0

(pF

)

Cycles

Com

pressiv

estress (M

Pa)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

0 5 10 15 20 25

Cap

acit

ance

(p

F)

Pressure kPa

Cycle 1

Cycle 2

Cycle 3

Cycle 4

Cycle 5

A. Keller et al Unpublished

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FLM for Outreach

Everyone can relate to food!!

Vegemite Demo at the 2015 UOW Big Ideas Festival

Electronics for Breakfast Youtube Video

Outlet for introducing scientific concepts to the public in a digestible manner

Encourages students into STEM fields

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AcknowledgementsSupervisors:

Prof. Marc in het Panhuis (Primary)

Prof. Gursel Alici

Prof. Geoff Spinks

ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science

Intelligent Polymer Research Institute

UOW School of Chemistry & Soft Materials Group

Chris Richards & Dr. Holly Warren

Hamilton, C.A., et al., 3D printing Vegemite and Marmite: Redefining

“breadboards”, Journal of Food Engineering (2017),

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2017.01.00830, 2017].

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Questions?