3D printed bikini that cleans the ocean

3D printing takes on a whole new level by printing a bikini that's not only sexy, but will detoxify the ocean as you swim. Researchers at the the University of California Riverside have created a re-usable material, called Sponge whose development began four years ago, is a water-repelling and highly porous carbon material that is light and flexible. It absorbs up to 25 times its own weight, depending on the density of the material absorbed. The sponge is designed not only to clean up oil and chemical spills, but also desalinate water.

The bikini was created by Dr. Mihri Ozkan, a Professor of Electrical Engineering at the university, along with her husband and two PhD students, Daisy Patino and Hamed Bay. The idea of adapting the material into a wearable came from architecture and design firm Eray Carbajo, based in New York and Istanbul. The Eray Carbajo team, Pinar Guvenc, Inanc Eray and Gonzalo Carbajo, worked with Ozkan at her laboratory to design the swimsuit. "This is a super material that is not harmful to the environment and very cost effective to produce." Ozkan said. 

The sponge suit bikini is made up of a 3D printed net-like cage flexible plastic or “elastomer” frame which encapsulates the Sponge material. The entire bikini weighs only 1.9oz or 54 grams and the material is 2mm thick with the Sponge insert reusable up to 20 times without losing its absorbency, trapping the contaminants in the pores of the material, so they don't come into contact with the wearer's skin. The per gram cost of the sponge is just around 15 cents making it cost effective.

This innovative eco-friendly swin suit just won first prize in the Reshape15: Wearable Technology Competition. Not only will you look sexy in the award winning bikini but also clean the ocean.