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1. Innovative Delivery of 3D Printing

   Fidan, Ismail; Chitiyo, George; Fidan, Perihan; Gupta, Ankit; Hasanov, Seymur; Mathende, Allen M.; Zhang, Zhicheng (January 2021, 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference)

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   3D Printing (3DP), also known as Additive Manufacturing (AM) is the latest production technology. Its popularity in fabricating functional parts in all fields is growing day by day. The range of 3D printed products is limitless, including glass frames to hearing aids. It is thus important to train educators and students regarding this cutting-edge technology so that they become familiar with the functionality and implementation of it in several courses, laboratories, and projects. This paper reports several novel developments which have been implemented in the past few years, including details of these unique practices and feedback received from the educators and students. 

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2. 3D printing of conjugated polymers

   https://doi.org/10.1002/polb.24893  

   Jordan, Robert S.; Wang, Yue (August 2019, Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics)
3. 4D‐Printing of Photoswitchable Actuators

   https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202012618  

   Lu, Xili; Ambulo, Cedric P.; Wang, Suitu; Rivera‐Tarazona, Laura K.; Kim, Hyun; Searles, Kyle; Ware, Taylor H. (January 2021, Angewandte Chemie International Edition)

   Abstract Shape‐switching behavior, where a transient stimulus induces an indefinitely stable deformation that can be recovered on exposure to another transient stimulus, is critical to building smart structures from responsive polymers as continue power is not needed to maintain deformations. Herein, we 4D‐print shape‐switching liquid crystalline elastomers (LCEs) functionalized with supramolecular crosslinks, dynamic covalent crosslinks, and azobenzene. The salient property of shape‐switching LCEs is that light induces long‐lived, deformation that can be recovered on‐demand by heating. UV‐light isomerizes azobenzene fromtranstocis, and temporarily breaks the supramolecular crosslinks, resulting in a programmed deformation. After UV, the shape‐switching LCEs fix more than 90 % of the deformation over 3 days by the reformed supramolecular crosslinks. Using the shape‐switching properties, we print Braille‐like actuators that can be photoswitched to display different letters. This new class of photoswitchable actuators may impact applications such as deployable devices where continuous application of power is impractical. 

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4. Direct Printing of High-Resolution Metallic Three-Dimensional Microneedle Arrays Via Electrohydrodynamic Jet Printing

   https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4065965  

   Wardell, Karson; Yao, Yao; Jiang, Qingrui; Ding, Shinghua; Wang, Yi; Han, Yiwei (June 2024, Journal of Micro and Nano Science and Engineering)

   Abstract Three-dimensional (3D) microneedle arrays (MAs) have shown remarkable performances for a wide range of biomedical applications. Achieving advanced customizable 3D MAs for personalized research and treatment remain a formidable challenge. In this paper, we have developed a high-resolution electrohydrodynamic (EHD) 3D printing process for fabricating customizable 3D MAs with economical and biocompatible molten alloy. The critical printing parameters (i.e., voltage and pressure) on the printing process for both two-dimensional (2D) and 3D features are characterized, and an optimal set of printing parameters was obtained for printing 3D MAs. We have also studied the effect of the tip-nozzle separation speed on the final tip dimension, which will directly influence MAs' insertion performance and functions. With the optimal process parameters, we successfully EHD printed customizable 3D MAs with varying spacing distances and shank heights. A 3 × 3 customized 3D MAs configuration with various heights ranging from 0.8 mm to 1 mm and a spacing distance as small as 350 μm were successfully fabricated, in which the diameter of each individual microneedle was as small as 100 μm. A series of tests were conducted to evaluate the printed 3D MAs. The experimental results demonstrated that the printed 3D MAs exhibit good mechanical strength for implanting and good electrical properties for electrophysiological sensing and stimulation. All results show the potential applications of the EHD printing technique in fabricating cost-effective, customizable, high-performance MAs for biomedical applications. 

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5. Hybrid printing of wearable piezoelectric sensors

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2021.106522  

   Du, Yipu; Wang, Ruoxing; Zeng, Minxiang; Xu, Shujia; Saeidi-Javash, Mortaza; Wu, Wenzhuo; Zhang, Yanliang (December 2021, Nano Energy)

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