Ultrasonic machining of biomass using biodegradable slurry

Thrombi, e.g. blood clots, in circulatory system pose acute health risk, globally. This research investigated roles of biodegradable starch slurry in advancing biomass machining efficiency. Hard clots (fibrin-rich) prepared from rabbit blood were exposed in vitro concomitantly to ultrasound (1 MHz) and starch slurry. Starch slurry particles (diameter ∼250 nm) yielded a 200% increase in material removal (sonothrombolysis) efficiency. Mechanistic participation of starch, a non-Newtonian material, at the interface of biomass-ultrasonic radiation is discussed. Overall in subtractive biomanufacturing, the role of biodegradable slurry is critical for enhancing material removal efficiency.