At the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory a polymer has been created to bind and strengthen silica. It’s made via additive manufacturing, it can create sand-structures with intricate exceptionally strong geometries. Here’s more from Phys.Org:
Silica sand is a cheap, readily available material that has been gaining interest in automotive and aerospace sectors for creating composite parts. Lightweight materials, such as carbon fiber or fiberglass, are wrapped around 3D-printed sand cores, or “tools,” and cured with heat. Silica sand is attractive for tooling because it does not change dimensions when heated and because it offers a unique advantage in washable tooling. In composite applications, using a water-soluble binder to form sand tools is significant because it enables a simple washout step with tap water to remove the sand, leaving a hollow composite form.
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