Design and direct fabrication of high‐performance thermosets and composites via 3D printing are highly desirable in engineering applications. Most 3D printed thermosetting polymers to date suffer from poor mechanical properties and low printing speed. Here, a novel ink for high‐speed 3D printing of high‐performance epoxy thermosets via a two‐stage curing approach is presented. The ink containing photocurable resin and thermally curable epoxy resin is used for the digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing. After printing, the part is thermally cured at elevated temperature to yield an interpenetrating polymer network epoxy composite, whose mechanical properties are comparable to engineering epoxy. The printing speed is accelerated by the continuous liquid interface production assisted DLP 3D printing method, achieving a printing speed as high as 216 mm h−1. It is also demonstrated that 3D printing structural electronics can be achieved by combining the 3D printed epoxy composites with infilled silver ink in the hollow channels. The new 3D printing method via two‐stage curing combines the attributes of outstanding printing speed, high resolution, low volume shrinkage, and excellent mechanical properties, and provides a new avenue to fabricate 3D thermosetting composites with excellent mechanical properties and high efficiency toward high‐performance and functional applications.
A mechanically robust, ultraelastic foam with controlled multiscale architectures and tunable mechanical/conductive performance is fabricated via 3D printing. Hierarchical porosity, including both macro‐ and microscaled pores, are produced by the combination of direct ink writing (DIW), acid etching, and phase inversion. The thixotropic inks in DIW are formulated by a simple one‐pot process to disperse duo nanoparticles (nanoclay and silica nanoparticles) in a polyurethane suspension. The resulting lightweight foam exhibits tailorable mechanical strength, unprecedented elasticity (standing over 1000 compression cycles), and remarkable robustness (rapidly and fully recover after a load more than 20 000 times of its own weight). Surface coating of carbon nanotubes yields a conductive elastic foam that can be used as piezoresistivity sensor with high sensitivity. For the first time, this strategy achieves 3D printing of elastic foam with controlled multilevel 3D structures and mechanical/conductive properties. Moreover, the facile ink preparation method can be utilized to fabricate foams of various materials with desirable performance via 3D printing.
more » « less- PAR ID:
- 10056381
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Advanced Functional Materials
- Volume:
- 28
- Issue:
- 21
- ISSN:
- 1616-301X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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