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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Warmwater Aquaculture Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #427760
Research Project: Umbrella Project for Food Safety

Location: Warmwater Aquaculture Research Unit

Title: Recycling catfish bone for additive manufacturing of silicone composite structures

Author
item AQERROUT, SAAD - Mississippi State University
item WU, DI - University Of California
item YU, FEI - Mississippi State University
item LIU, WENBO - Mississippi State University
item HAN, YUKE - Mississippi State University
item LYU, JIAQI - Stevens Institute Of Technology
item JING, YI - Mississippi State University
item YANG, XIAORAN - Mississippi State University

Submitted to: Journal of Composite Materials
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/7/2024
Publication Date: 9/11/2024
Citation: Aqerrout, S., Wu, D., Yu, F., Liu, W., Han, Y., Lyu, J., Jing, Y., Yang, X. 2024. Recycling catfish bone for additive manufacturing of silicone composite structures. Journal of Composite Materials. 58(26)2837-2848. https://doi.org/10.1177/00219983241283607.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00219983241283607

Interpretive Summary: Channel catfish is a key species in U.S. aquaculture but faces increasing pressure from global competition and rising feed costs. One promising way to add value and reduce waste is to repurpose fish bone byproducts, which are rich in calcium and hydroxyapatite. This study explores a new application for catfish bone waste by incorporating fish bone powder (FBP) into silicone composites for 3D printing using Direct Ink Writing (DIW). The bones were processed with heat treatment (calcination) and mixed into silicone to create materials with customizable mechanical properties. The research showed that these FBP-silicone composites performed well in 3D printing, maintaining shape, accuracy, and strength across different loading conditions. Notably, this is one of the first demonstrations of using FBP in low-viscosity DIW printing, and the technology also proved compatible with dual printing setups that combine FDM and DIW methods. This innovation opens new doors for sustainable reuse of fish processing waste—not just from catfish, but potentially across the broader U.S. seafood, poultry, and livestock industries.

Technical Abstract: As a notable commercial aquaculture species, channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) in US faces challenges including the global market competition and enhanced feed costs. Since fish bone waste is a major source of calcium and hydroxyapatite, reutilization gives birth to several advanced products in the development of animal feed, fertilizers, and nutrition supplements. Recent research findings introduce fish bone powder (FBP) reinforcement in Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) of plastic composites. However, FBP so far has not been widely utilized for Direct Ink Writing (DIW) 3D printing of silicone composite. In this paper, catfish bone waste has been recycled and processed with a thermal procedure. FBP reinforced silicone composite structures have been developed and manufactured using low-viscosity DIW 3D printing. Morphological and chemical structures of FBPs were analyzed and compared before and after calcination. The rheological and mechanical characterization have indicated the potential of calcinated FBP in advancing the silicone composites. With 0%–50% weight percentages of FBP, composite samples can be designed to get any specified mechanical response (0.5–1.4 MPa in 50% tension strain and 150–550 N in 30% compression strain). The shape holding, overhang, and dimensional accuracy of FBP reinforced silicone composites in single (DIW) and dual (FDM + DIW) 3D printing processes have been demonstrated and summarized. With appropriate adjustments, this FBP-based 3D printing technology can be applied to byproduct recycling of all the US food-fish species, poultry, and livestock.