3D Printing
3D Printing is a powerful method to shape materials into complex structures that recreate the hierarchical design of biological architectures. We have exploited layer-by-layer 3D printing technologies to spatially control the chemical composition and local structure of synthetic materials as they “grow” on the print bed.
The main focus of our research on this topic is to design printable inks that contain building blocks, such as molecules, particles or droplets, that are able to self-assemble into structures below the resolution of the printer.
The top-down printing of layers combined with the bottom-up self-assembly processes have allowed for the manufacturing of porous and dense hierarchical materials with exquisite three-dimensional architectures and properties.
The selected publications below provide examples of research projects under this thematic area:
external pageN. Kleger, S. Fehlmann, S.S. Lee, C. Dénéréaz, M. Cihova, N. Paunović, Y. Bao, J.-C. Leroux, S.J. Ferguson, K. Masania, A.R. Studart, Light-Based Printing of Leachable Salt Molds for Facile Shaping of Complex Structures, Advanced Materials, 2203878 (2022).call_made
external pageD.G. Moore, L. Barbera, K. Masania, A.R. Studart, Three-dimensional printing of multicomponent glasses using phase-separating resins, Nature Materials, 19 (2) 212-217 (2020).call_made
external pageF.B. Coulter, M. Schaffner, J.A. Faber, A. Rafsanjani, R. Smith, H. Appa, P. Zilla, D. Bezuidenhout, A.R. Studart, Bioinspired Heart Valve Prosthesis Made by Silicone Additive Manufacturing, Matter, 1 (1) 266-279 (2019).call_made
external pageS. Gantenbein, K. Masania, W. Woigk, J.P.W. Sesseg, T.A. Tervoort, A.R. Studart, Three-dimensional printing of hierarchical liquid-crystal-polymer structures, Nature, 561 (7722) 226-230 (2018).call_made
external pageC. Minas, D. Carnelli, E. Tervoort, A.R. Studart, 3D Printing of Emulsions and Foams into Hierarchical Porous Ceramics, Advanced Materials, 28 (45) 9993-9999 (2016).call_made
external pageA.R. Studart, Additive manufacturing of biologically-inspired materials, Chemical Society Reviews, 45 (2) 359-376 (2016)call_made