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Photoactuated pens have emerged as promising tools for expedient, mask-free, and versatile nanomanufacturing. However, the challenge of effectively controlling individual pens in large arrays for high-throughput patterning has been a significant hurdle. In this study, we introduce novel generations of photoactuated pens and explore the impact of pen architecture on photoactuation efficiency and crosstalk through simulations and experiments. By introducing a thermal insulating layer and incorporating an air ap in the architecture design, we have achieved the separation of pens into independent units. This new design allowed for improved control over the actuation behavior of individual pens, markedly reducing the influence of neighboring pens. The results of our research suggest novel applications of photoactive composite films as advanced actuators across diverse fields, including lithography, adaptive optics, and soft robotics.

 

Functional thin films and interphases are omnipresent in modern technology and often determine the performance and life-time of devices. However, existing coating strategies are incompatible with emerging mesoscaled 3D architected and porous materials, and fail to uniformly apply functional thin films on their large and complex interior 3D surface. In this report, we introduce an approach for obtaining conformal polymeric thin films using custom-designed dual-functional monomers possessing both self-limiting electrodeposition capability and the functionality of interest in separate molecular motifs. We exemplify this approach with the monomer triethylene glycol-diphenol and demonstrate the full coating of a 3D mesoscaled battery electrode with an ultrathin lithium-ion permeable film. Our comprehensive study of the processing–structure–property relationships enables the tailorable control over the conformal thickness (7–80 nm), molecular permeability, and electronic properties. The modularity and tunability of this approach make it a promising candidate for functional polymer film deposition on arbitrary 3D structures. 

We attach a MOF crystallite to an atomic force microscope cantilever to realize a system for rapidly and quantitatively studying the interaction between single-crystal MOFs and polymer films. Using this method, we find evidence of polymer intercalation into MOF pores. This approach can accelerate composite design. 

Abstract Additive manufacturing (AM) techniques, such as fused deposition modeling (FDM), are able to fabricate physical components from three-dimensional (3D) digital models through the sequential deposition of material onto a print bed in a layer-by-layer fashion. In FDM and many other AM techniques, it is critical that the part adheres to the bed during printing. After printing, however, excessive bed adhesion can lead to part damage or prevent automated part removal. In this work, we validate a novel testing method that quickly and cheaply evaluates bed adhesion without constraints on part geometry. Using this method, we study the effect of bed temperature on the peak removal force for polylactic acid (PLA) parts printed on bare borosilicate glass and polyimide (PI)-coated beds. In addition to validating conventional wisdom that bed adhesion is maximized between 60 and 70 °C (140 and 158 °F), we observe that cooling the bed below 40 °C (104 °F), as is commonly done to facilitate part removal, has minimal additional benefit. Counterintuitively, we find that heating the bed after printing is often a more efficient process for facile part removal. In addition to introducing a general method for measuring and optimizing bed adhesion via bed temperature modulation, these results can be used to accelerate the production and testing of AM components in printer farms and autonomous research systems. 

Vat polymerization is a type of additive manufacturing that is used extensively to produce micro‐architected structures for mechanical applications, which brings the mechanical properties of photopolymerized resins into sharp focus. However, it is known that photopolymerization is sensitive to a number of factors, perhaps the most notorious of which is oxygen inhibition. Herein, the degree to which oxygen inhibition influences the macroscopic and microscopic properties of structures made using vat polymerization is explored. This work is motivated by an observation of lattices being >4 times softer in the experiment than predicted by simulation, which is hypothesized to be due to the material at the surface being incompletely cured. This hypothesis is supported by four‐point bending tests in which flexural modulus is found to increase with beam thickness. Nanoindentation and bulk compression studies show that this surface softening is present for three distinct resins. Importantly, it is observed that structures post‐print cured in nitrogen are stiffer than those post‐print cured in air, however, regardless of the post‐print curing environment, printing samples in the presence of oxygen makes them softer than samples photocured in nitrogen. Collectively, these results show the outsized influence of oxygen inhibition on micro‐architected structures realized using vat polymerization.