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Abstract Natural organisms have evolved a series of versatile functional biomaterials and structures to cope with survival crises in their living environment, exhibiting outstanding properties such as superhydrophobicity, anisotropy, and mechanical reinforcement, which have provided abundant inspiration for the design and fabrication of next‐generation multi‐functional devices. However, the lack of available materials and limitations of traditional manufacturing methods for complex multiscale structures have hindered the progress in bio‐inspired manufacturing of functional structures. As a revolutionary emerging manufacturing technology, additive manufacturing (i.e., 3D printing) offers high design flexibility and manufacturing freedom, providing the potential for the fabrication of intricate, multiscale, hierarchical, and multi‐material structures. Herein, a comprehensive review of current 3D printing of surface/interface structures, covering the applied materials, designs, and functional applications is provided. Several bio‐inspired surface structures that have been created using 3D printing technology are highlighted and categorized based on their specific properties and applications, some properties can be applied to multiple applications. The optimized designs of these 3D‐printed bio‐inspired surfaces offer a promising prospect of low‐cost, high efficiency, and excellent performance. Finally, challenges and opportunities in field of fabricating functional surface/interface with more versatile functional material, refined structural design, and better cost‐effective are discussed.
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Ultra-light antennas via charge programmed deposition additive manufacturing
Abstract The demand for lightweight antennas in 5 G/6 G communication, wearables, and aerospace applications is rapidly growing. However, standard manufacturing techniques are limited in structural complexity and easy integration of multiple material classes. Here we introduce charge programmed multi-material additive manufacturing platform, offering unparalleled flexibility in antenna design and the capability for rapid printing of intricate antenna structures that are unprecedented or necessitate a series of fabrication routes. Demonstrating its potential, we present a transmitarray antenna composed of an interconnected, multi-layered array of dielectric/conductive S-ring unit cells, reducing 94% mass of conventional antenna configurations. A fully printed circular polarized transmitarray system fed by a source and a Risley prism antenna system operating at 19 GHz both show close alignment between testing results and numerical simulations. This printing method establishes a universal platform, propelling discovery of new antenna designs and enabling data-driven design and optimizations where rapid production of antenna designs is crucial.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2309828
- PAR ID:
- 10664626
- Publisher / Repository:
- Nature
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Nature Communications
- Volume:
- 16
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2041-1723
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53513-w
