Project Development of Compostable Plastic for Additive Manufacturing Program Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Research Program Term Summer 2025 Status Closed Research Area Materials, Machine Learning, Additive Manufacturing Description This research project aims to develop a sustainable and environmentally friendly thermoplastic starch (TPS) derived from potato and corn for additive manufacturing. The goal is to determine the optimal composition and processing parameters to produce TPS material suitable for fused deposition modeling. Leveraging machine learning-driven experimental protocols developed in this lab, the composition and processing parameters will be simultaneously optimized to create a TPS filament with properties comparable to commercially available products. The key advantage of TPS is its compostability, allowing it to degrade at the same rate as cellulose without leaving toxic residues. Students selected for this project will carry out the following research tasks: characterization of TPS film and FDM parts, optimization of TPS formulation and processing, and evaluation of TPS compostability. Supervisor Andres Tovar Mentor Type of work required Materials Development and Characterization: Laboratory work
Process Optimization for Additive Manufacturing: Computational Work
Websites https://engineering.purdue.edu/EDRL
https://www.compostablept.com/
Qualifications No minimum GPA or previous research experience required. Credit Hours 0 Weekly Hours 20 (estimated)