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From wool to Kevlar, one-dimensional (1D) fiber has experienced the transition from clothing materials to structural applications in the past centuries. However, the recent advancements in tooling engineering and manufacturing processes have attracted much attention from both academia and industry to fabricate novel, versatile fibers with unique microstructures and unprecedented properties. This mini-review focuses on the fabrication techniques of porous, coaxial, layer-by-layer, and segmented fibers with continuous solution and melt fiber spinning methods. In each section of this review article, the unique structure-related applications, including intelligent devices, healthcare devices, energy storage systems, wearable electronics, and sustainable products, are discussed and evaluated. Finally, the combination of additive manufacturing (AM) for 1D fiber patterning in two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) devices, in addition to challenges in the reviewed fiber microstructures, is briefly introduced in the conclusion section.
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Sol-gel technologies for additive manufacturing glass materials
Abstract The sol-gel method has shown immense potential in materials science and nanotechnology. One of the cornerstone applications of the sol-gel technique includes the fabrication of inorganic glasses and glass-ceramics at relatively low temperatures as an alternative to conventional high-temperature melt-quench techniques. In recent times, glass fabrication with the sol-gel method has extended to additive manufacturing (AM), also referred to as 3D printing. Current sol-gel, glass AM uses solution-based gel compositions to produce three-dimensional glasses through layer-by-layer deposition and/or using photocurable polymer resins. Owing to its significant advantages of being able to fabricate glass components with arbitrary and complex geometry, AM presents a tantalizing opportunity to fabricate functionalized glass materials, increasing the technique’s popularity over the past decade. In this review and perspective, recent progress in combining sol-gel synthesis and additive manufacturing technologies used for obtaining inorganic glasses are discussed, specifically highlighting the research carried out in North America, and a prospectus of the field and emerging areas of interest and need is presented. Graphical Abstract
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- Award ID(s):
- 2144453
- PAR ID:
- 10578255
- Publisher / Repository:
- Springer Nature
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology
- ISSN:
- 0928-0707
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-025-06664-1
