PolyBrick 4.0: 3D Printed Modular Bricks with Programmable Living Yeast Matter for Formaldehyde Air Purification

Biodesign introduces an innovative approach to engineered and designed materials by integrating living microbes into their composition, enabling novel functionalities ranging from “living” sensors to air-purifying wall paints. Building upon prior research, PolyBrick 4.0 presents a digitally fabricated ceramic–biological hybrid that combines additive manufacturing with microbial design to improve indoor air quality. The system incorporates Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker’s yeast) into porous ceramic substrates produced through Stereolithography Apparatus three-dimensional (3D) printing. By adjusting surface morphology and texture parameters, yeast-cell adhesion and loading were optimized across the ceramic surfaces. Computational fluid dynamics simulations were employed to analyze and refine parametric brick geometries, supporting airflow distribution and increasing the exposure of internal surfaces to formaldehyde-containing air. Preliminary chamber-scale testing showed decreases in measured formaldehyde concentration across the yeast-loaded ceramic configurations, with the largest decrease observed in the agar-supported 3D gyroid system. However, because matched no-yeast and heat-killed-cell controls were not included for this condition, the respective contributions of the yeast, agar medium, aqueous components, and ceramic substrate could not be distinguished. This research highlights a novel interdisciplinary workflow that bridges architecture, materials science, and bioengineering, establishing a design and fabrication framework for computationally designed, bio-integrated ceramic systems for indoor air-quality applications.