UCL saves £2 million by 3D printing laboratory equipment in-house

According to UCL, the Hilton group at the university’s School of Pharmacy is pioneering low-cost 3D printed flow reactors, laboratory equipment, and catalytically active stirrer beads to enhance accessibility and sustainability in scientific research and therapeutics. The technology presents a multitude of opportunities for lowering costs within a laboratory setting as well as innovating chemical and pharmaceutical research.

What began in 2020 with the design, development, and later commercialization of the IKA Flow Reactor in partnership with IKA, has since enabled the group to fully utilize the power of 3D printing across the research landscape. Flow chemistry is an alternative to traditional batch chemistry and has multiple advantages, including greater mixing efficiency and typically improved reaction outcomes, improved safety profiles, and improved reproducibility. However, flow systems are typically expensive, and prohibit many research laboratories from exploring the methodology fully. As such, the Hilton group saw a need for a low-cost flow reactor built using 3D printed techniques. These flow reactors are fully 3D printed using chemically resistant PLA material, and controlled using low-cost Arduino microelectronics.

The creativity offered by the technology enables customization of the reactor – dependant upon the chemistry being performed – and additional modules for photochemistry, temperature control and monitoring, and more have since been designed and printed. Noticeable further achievements include the development of a range of catalyst-embedded 3D printed stirrer beads, which enables expensive catalysts to be reused multiple times – saving money and improving sustainability. Other work has explored the use of medically-loaded 3D capsules for next-generation drug delivery approaches.

3D printing can be used to rapidly produce commonly required laboratory equipment, such as round-bottom flask holders, desk organizers, replacement clips, and much more. These everyday essentials can be rapidly printed in-house – saving money and also eliminating the environmental burden of shipping these items. When combined with the estimated costs for the flow reactors in the laboratory, the group has reportedly saved UCL more than £2 million since investing in 3D printing technologies.