Ultrafast Digital Printing toward 4D Shape Changing Materials

Limei Huang; Ruiqi Jiang; Jingjun Wu; Jizhou Song; Hao Bai; Bogeng Li; Qian Zhao; Tao Xie

doi:10.1002/adma.201605390

Ultrafast Digital Printing toward 4D Shape Changing Materials

Adv Mater. 2017 Feb;29(7). doi: 10.1002/adma.201605390. Epub 2016 Dec 9.

Authors

Limei Huang¹, Ruiqi Jiang², Jingjun Wu¹, Jizhou Song², Hao Bai¹, Bogeng Li¹, Qian Zhao¹, Tao Xie¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China.
² Soft Matter Research Center, Key Laboratory of Soft Machines and Smart Devices of Zhejiang Province, Department of Engineering Mechanics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China.

PMID: 27936286
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201605390

Abstract

Ultrafast 4D printing (<30 s) of responsive polymers is reported. Visible-light-triggered polymerization of commercial monomers defines digitally stress distribution in a 2D polymer film. Releasing the stress after the printing converts the structure into 3D. An additional dimension can be incorporated by choosing the printing precursors. The process overcomes the speed limiting steps of typical 3D (4D) printing.

Keywords: 3D printing; responsive hydrogels; shape changing polymers.