Week 1 HW: Final Project Ideas

“HTBAA - 2026 Maximino Matus Ruiz Tijuana, México

(Hydrox)yapatite (HAp) Exoesqueletons for House Remediation Before and After Earthquakes

1. What do you want to make?

I want to biomanofacture a material made from (hydrox)yapatite (HAp) to repair constructions that have been damaged by earthquakes or to make their “bones” stronger before earthquakes happens. HAp has been proved to be efficient in the reconstruction of human bones, teeth and as recently as a cement coating material. My aim is to use this novel material for architectural remediation after earthquakes. I also would like to test it as a cover material to reinforce houses in other to make them stronger; earthquakes readiness. My aim is to develop a low-cost biomaterial made of HAp for rural and indigenous communities which are the most affected by earthquakes after they abandoned their traditional construction systems and started to build houses with charcoal and industrial cements. My hypothesis is that if HAp has been used as biomaterial for human teeth and bones because its strongness and biocompatibility since is a very safe material, then the challenge of this project relies more in the side of the scalability of the material, not in proving its biomechanical performance.

2. What living system could make it?

Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. I live in Tijuana, very close to the Pacific Ocean. We have problematic management of the purple sea urchin. This organism is eating large algae and other organism in the environment. There is a big population of purple sea urchin because it is poor in meat, and therefore fishers do not care so much on it. I argue that the proliferation of the Strongylocentrotus purpuratus could be managed by an alternative use of this organism. To biomanofacture (hydrox)yapatite out of it seem to be a feasible option because there are previous studies proving the qualities and performance of this biomaterial. However, studies and applications have mainly focused on the human body. Instead, I am looking for a mass production material to be applied in the reconstruction of houses after earthquakes or to help them to have stronger “bones” before earthquakes happens.

3. How automation help to make it?

Following the content of a local PhD thesis focuses on the production of hidroxiapatita out of Strongylocentrotus purpuratus I asked Copilot “how Lab Automation Using Biofoundry (“BYOSINT”) Techniques Can Improve Hydroxyapatite Production from Strongylocentrotus purpuratus”. From this question I got the following answerer: The thesis demonstrated that hydroxyapatite (HA) can be successfully synthesized from the exoskeleton of Strongylocentrotus purpuratus and that the most effective synthesis route involves a nitric acid digestion step before phosphate precipitation. The study found that this pathway produced hydroxyapatite with a Ca/P ratio close to the ideal value of 1.67 and eliminated undesirable carbonate groups. A biofoundry or BYOSINT-style laboratory automation approach could significantly improve the efficiency, reproducibility, throughput, and scalability of this process.

1. Automated Raw Material Processing The thesis required several manual preparation steps: • Collection of sea urchins • Removal of organic tissues • Washing • Drying • Grinding • Thermal treatment at 800°C Automated systems could standardize these operations, reducing variation between batches of exoskeleton material. Since the composition of natural biomaterials can vary, robotic milling and automated weighing systems would ensure consistent particle size and sample mass before synthesis.
2. Automated Acid Digestion The thesis concluded that the best hydroxyapatite was produced when the exoskeleton underwent nitric acid digestion before synthesis. This treatment generated soluble Ca²⁺ ions that subsequently reacted with phosphate ions to form hydroxyapatite. Biofoundry automation could: • Precisely dispense HNO₃ • Monitor pH continuously • Control temperature • Control mixing speed • Determine reaction endpoints automatically This would reduce operator error and improve the consistency of calcium precursor solutions. The thesis identified acid digestion as the most successful route for obtaining pure hydroxyapatite.
3. Automated Control of Phosphate Addition A key variable in the thesis was the reaction between calcium derived from the exoskeleton and phosphoric acid. The synthesis required careful addition of H₃PO₄ to achieve the desired Ca/P ratio. The study showed that reaction conditions strongly influenced whether hydroxyapatite, brushite, or other phases formed. Automation can provide: • Controlled reagent addition rates • Real-time pH monitoring • Automated stirring control • Temperature regulation This is particularly important because: • 3 hours without digestion produced brushite. • 18 hours produced hydroxyapatite. • 36 hours produced additional undesired crystal phases. • Digestion followed by only 3 hours produced high-quality hydroxyapatite. Therefore, process timing and reagent control are ideal targets for automation.
4. High-Throughput Optimization of Synthesis Parameters One of the major advantages of a biofoundry is the ability to run many experiments simultaneously. The thesis investigated four synthesis conditions. A robotic platform could evaluate hundreds of conditions in parallel, including: • Acid concentration • Temperature • Reaction time • Agitation speed • Phosphate concentration • Exoskeleton particle size • Thermal treatment conditions Automated screening could identify synthesis conditions that maximize: • Hydroxyapatite purity • Yield • Ca/P ratio • Particle size control • Crystallinity much faster than traditional laboratory experimentation. Commercial laboratory automation platforms are specifically designed to increase throughput and reproducibility in these types of workflows.
5. Automated Quality Control The thesis used multiple analytical methods: • FTIR • XRD • EDS • SEM • TEM to confirm hydroxyapatite formation and characterize material properties. An automated workflow could integrate these analyses directly into production. For example: • FTIR could automatically verify phosphate (PO₄³⁻) and hydroxyl groups. • XRD could automatically confirm hydroxyapatite crystal phases. • EDS could monitor the Ca/P ratio. • SEM image analysis software could measure particle morphology and distribution. Instead of waiting until the end of production, the system could immediately flag poor-quality batches.
6. Automated Functionalization of Hydroxyapatite A major contribution of the thesis was demonstrating that amino-acid functionalization works best when performed during hydroxyapatite precipitation rather than after synthesis. The study showed successful incorporation of L-Arginine and L-Glutamate during synthesis, while post-synthesis functionalization was largely ineffective. Automation could: • Add amino acids at precise times. • Maintain optimal pH. • Control temperature and aging conditions. • Execute reproducible washing cycles. • Quantify adsorption automatically. The thesis quantified adsorption values of: • 60.59 ± 1.6 mg L-Arg/g HA • 52.61 ± 0.92 mg L-Glu/g HA demonstrating effective ligand incorporation.
7. Machine Learning and Closed-Loop Process Optimization The thesis identified several critical variables: • Digestion step • Reaction time • Carbonate removal • Ca/P ratio • Functionalization strategy A BYOSINT biofoundry platform could create a closed-loop “Design-Build-Test-Learn” system:
8. Design synthesis conditions.
9. Execute synthesis robotically.
10. Analyze product automatically.
11. Use machine learning to propose improved conditions. Such automated DBTL workflows have been demonstrated for materials and biological system development using robotic platforms integrated with machine-learning algorithms. Conclusion Based on the thesis, the greatest value of lab automation for hydroxyapatite production from Strongylocentrotus purpuratus lies in controlling the key variables identified by the author: acid digestion, phosphate addition, reaction time, and functionalization during precipitation. The thesis showed that nitric acid digestion followed by controlled precipitation is the optimal synthesis route, producing hydroxyapatite with a Ca/P ratio of approximately 1.68 and eliminating unwanted carbonate phases. A biofoundry-based automated process would increase reproducibility, reduce processing time, enable high-throughput optimization, improve quality control, and accelerate the development of functionalized hydroxyapatite biomaterials derived from Strongylocentrotus purpuratus.
12. What would it take to make it at a meaningful scale? Here again I ask Copilot to use the PhD thesis as base to answerer the question and I got the following reasoning: The question becomes: how much hydroxyapatite (HA) do you need? Phase 1: Pilot Scale (1-10 kg/month) This is enough for: • Material development • University-industry partnerships • Preclinical testing • Custom biomaterial research Equipment: • 20-50 L glass-lined reactors • Automated pH dosing • Filtration system • Drying oven • Small furnace • FTIR and XRD access Estimated personnel: • 1 process engineer • 1 laboratory technician At this scale, a BYOSINT-type automated workflow mainly reduces labor costs and accelerates optimization. Phase 2: Demonstration Scale (100-500 kg/month) This is where it becomes an actual manufacturing operation. Major additions: Continuous feedstock sourcing The thesis emphasizes that exoskeletons are a by-product of sea urchin processing. A commercial process would need agreements with: • Sea urchin fisheries • Seafood processors • Aquaculture operations The business model works much better if the exoskeleton is treated as a waste stream with little or no acquisition cost. Automated preprocessing Instead of grinding manually: • Industrial crushers • Hammer mills • Sieving systems • Conveyor feeding Controlled digestion The thesis identified acid digestion as the best route. At larger scale: • Stainless or polymer-lined reactors • Automated acid addition • Gas handling systems for CO₂ release • Waste acid recovery Inline quality control Instead of testing only final batches: • Inline pH sensors • Conductivity monitoring • Automated sampling • Statistical process control Phase 3: Biomedical Manufacturing (1-10 tons/year) This is where margins become attractive. The thesis demonstrated: • Ca/P ratio ≈1.68 • Presence of Mg trace elements • Successful amino-acid functionalization • Protein adsorption capability These properties differentiate sea-urchin-derived HA from commodity HA. The goal is no longer selling hydroxyapatite as a chemical powder. The goal becomes selling: • Bone graft materials • Implant coatings • Functionalized HA carriers • Drug-delivery scaffolds These products can sell for many times the value of bulk HA. Where Automation Has the Largest Impact A biofoundry-style facility could run hundreds of experiments automatically. The thesis only compared: • 3 h reaction • 18 h reaction • 36 h reaction • Acid-digestion route An automated platform could optimize simultaneously: • Acid concentration • Temperature • pH • Ca/P ratio • Digestion time • Particle size • Mg retention • Functionalization chemistry This could compress years of R&D into months. The next question would be how to assure hydroxyapatite powder could be used as functionalized hydroxyapatite paint or cement coating for houses. To answer this question, I do propose to mix the hydroxyapatite powder with a charcoal Mayan biomaterial called chuckum which is used until now a day and is quite easy to find in commercial versions. Therefore, next except would be to prove the performance and biocompability of both biomaterials.
    References

EDGAR MANCILLA SÁNCHEZ. (2020). Obtención y funcionalización de hidroxiapatita a partir del exoesqueleto de erizo de mar morado Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. PhD thesis. UABC. Mexico”