Revolutionizing eco-environmental solutions through 3D printing: A strategic vision for future innovations

Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology is emerging as a transformative tool in eco-environmental research. It innovates environmental analysis technologies, augments environmental purification, alleviates environmental health risks, and fosters ecological sustainability. Nevertheless, most current applications of 3D printing in the eco-environmental domain remain largely confined to laboratory testing stages, with limited translation to large-scale and real-world deployment. In this viewpoint, we review recent progress and critical challenges within this field, while providing strategic perspectives for its future trajectory. We highlight the imperative to integrate cutting-edge 3D printing techniques into eco-environmental research, advance sustainable printing materials, and develop integrated multifunctional devices for environmental monitoring and remediation. Furthermore, we introduce a pioneering conceptual framework: self-sustaining composite artificial biosystems. Here we envision it as a bionic tree, a 3D-printed biohybrid construct that integrates an open microfluidic scaffold with engineered living materials to autonomously maintain biological activity through self-driven internal mass transport. While emulating key morphological and physiological features of natural plants, the bionic tree transcends its natural analogue by enabling synthetic biology-guided environmental remediation, CO 2 sequestration, and energy production. We provide an in-depth analysis of the rationale behind this concept, assess its technical feasibility, and present a developmental roadmap for this emerging research direction. Our insights are poised to amplify the contribution of 3D printing to the eco-environmental sector, thereby facilitating environmental pollution control and sustainable development. • 3D printing technology offers innovative solutions for environmental analysis, pollution remediation, health risk mitigation, and the promotion of ecological sustainability. • Strategic perspectives on the future development of 3D printing in the eco-environmental field are proposed, emphasizing the imperative to integrate cutting-edge 3D printing techniques into eco-environmental research, advance sustainable printing materials, and develop integrated multifunctional devices for environmental monitoring and remediation. • A pioneering conceptual framework, called the self-sustaining composite artificial biosystem, is proposed, which holds substantial promise for emulating the biochemical behaviors of natural plants while tackling environmental remediation, CO 2 sequestration, and energy production.