3D Printing Technique Allows for Unsupported Ceramic Printing in Mid-Air, Scientists Reveal

A breakthrough in ceramics manufacturing has been achieved by a team of scientists in China who have developed a new 3D printing technique.

As reported by the South China Morning Post, the new method enables ceramics to be printed in mid-air without any support structures, allowing the creation of intricate shapes that were previously impossible with traditional 3D printing.

Studies suggest that ceramics are ideal for mechanical engineering, electronics, and aerospace industries due to their chemical inertness, hardness, stiffness, and strength at high temperatures. However, their brittleness and hardness have made it challenging to manufacture intricate parts until now.

A New 3D Printing Technique

The team, led by Professor Liu Ren at Jiangnan University, has developed a new printing paste and an improved curing technique that makes the material solidify rapidly, increasing 3D printing efficiency and eliminating the need for support structures.

Their innovative technique can solidify multi-scale filaments with diameters ranging from 0.41mm to 3.5mm, successfully constructing ceramic structures, such as torsion springs and cantilever structures.

The new technique improves printing efficiency and addresses the issues related to removing support structures, which has been a challenge in traditional ceramic 3D printing.

The team's findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications on April 25, offering exciting possibilities for the future of ceramics manufacturing.

How the Scientists Developed the New Technique

The researchers have developed a photosensitive ceramic slurry that rapidly solidifies and increases in strength when exposed to near-infrared (NIR) light.

This innovative material has demonstrated the ability to hold its shape in mid-air immediately after being extruded from the nozzle, all thanks to a certain NIR radiation intensity.

In a groundbreaking discovery, the researchers found that NIR light can achieve superior results compared to the commonly used ultraviolet (UV) light. This opens up new possibilities for faster and more accurate high-precision printing.

To test the material's penetration ability of light, researchers measured the cure depth of the slurry under both NIR and UV light. The results were staggering: under UV light, the curing depth reached 1.02mm after 130 seconds.

However, under NIR light exposure for just 3 seconds, the curing depth reached 3.81mm. This means that NIR enables faster high-precision printing unmatched by UV light.

Video demonstrations show how Liu and his team printed three-dimensional curved structures horizontally at an impressive speed of 1mm per second. SCMP tells us that the resulting ceramics maintained their shape well and remained stable even during subsequent sintering processes or compacting and shaping under high temperatures.

Potential Uses of the Technology

The researchers also found that refining the ink components and printing parameters resulted in better-resolution objects and more distinctive aesthetics.

Parameters like nozzle diameter, extrusion pressure, movement speed, and light intensity were crucial to achieving these superior results.

Lead researcher Liu is optimistic about the potential of this new technique. He believes that 3D printing of ceramic shapes without the need for support structures will inspire innovation and make additive manufacturing technologies more accessible.

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