Around for nearly a hundred years, Vegemite has served its purpose throughout the lifetimes of many. Now, this traditional household condiment is coming forth, exiting the chill of the Aussie fridge and heading into the high-tech world to be used as a conductive material for 3D printing. Wait, what? Yes, and not only that, tell all your friends you can still eat it too.
“The iconic Australian Vegemite is ideal for 3D printing edible electronics,” says the professor. “It contains water so it’s not a solid and can easily be extruded using a 3D printer. Also, it’s salty, so it conducts electricity.”
The main theme here is conductive, as the researcher was interested in seeing how he could use it for power. Loading the Vegemite into a syringe and drawing out a thin strip of the ‘material’ and using it to complete a circuit between an LED and a battery, Professor in het Panhuis explains this level of conductivity is possible because of the ions and water in the Vegemite.
Impressed? We were. And if you’re hungry, don’t forget how simple and nutritious this breakfast of champions can be if you give it a chance. Tens of millions of people in Australia can’t be wrong–it’s all in what you do with it, as witnessed here!
Were you surprised to see that a common food source (for some) can actually light up an LED? Have you attempted using anything like this as a 3D printing material due to its soft, water-soluble qualities? Discuss in the 3D Printed Vegemite forum thread over at 3DPB.com.