Researchers from the College of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Beckman Institute for Superior Science and Know-how have developed a novel technique for multi-color 3D printing.
In contrast to standard multi-color 3D printing approaches which require a number of supplies, this technique solely requires a single ink. That is mentioned to make the brand new course of extra environment friendly and sustainable.
Drawing inspiration from color-changing chameleons, the crew’s UV-assisted-ink-writing method permits structural colours to be altered “on the fly” throughout 3D printing.
By altering the energy of UV-light whereas 3D printing, the researchers have been in a position to obtain a variety of colours. The colours of the 3D printed materials have been efficiently programmed to mirror a large spectrum of seen mild.
To reveal their findings, the researchers created colourful 3D printed artwork items, together with a chameleon picture and a recreation of Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Evening” portray. Each items showcase the broad spectrum of yellows, inexperienced and blues achievable with a single ink.
This new multi-color 3D printing course of is alleged to supply potential for creating new varieties of sensors, biomedical functions, and in different multi-color manufacturing use-cases.
“By designing new chemistries and printing processes, we are able to modulate structural shade on the fly to supply shade gradients not doable earlier than,” acknowledged Ying Diao, affiliate professor of chemistry and chemical and biomolecular engineering on the College of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a researcher on the Beckman Institute for Superior Science and Know-how.
The findings have been outlined in a examine titled “Direct-ink-write cross-linkable bottlebrush block copolymers for on-the-fly management of structural shade,” which has been revealed within the journal Proceedings of the Nationwide Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Multi-color 3D printing with one materials
Whereas conventional colours come from chemical pigments or dyes that take in mild, structural colours present in some animals, equivalent to Chameleons, are made out of nano-textured surfaces that intrude with seen mild.
Drawing inspiration from this pure phenomenon, the researchers used a 3D printable ink made out of photo-cross-linkable bottlebrush block copolymers (BBCP), which characteristic a singular brush-like construction.
Throughout 3D printing, the researchers altered the energy of the UV-light radiation because it cured the BBCP materials. This induced the ink’s polymers to crosslink in several methods, producing a spread of tiny lamellar constructions.
After being 3D printed, these constructions can exhibit a large spectrum of vibrant colours, starting from blue to pink. By particularly modifying the UV-light throughout extrusion, the crew have been in a position to efficiently produce a set of desired colours.
Based on the researchers, timing is vital to reaching this impact. It’s important to match the cross-linking timescale with the meeting timescale. Appropriately correlating these components ensures the polymer preparations kind the required construction shapes, which create the specified shade as the fabric is cured.
Analysis in multi-color 3D printing
This isn’t the primary time researchers have regarded to nature when creating multi-color 3D printing processes. Again in 2021, scientists from the Eindhoven College of Know-how (TUE) offered a novel color-changing liquid crystal ink suitable with direct ink writing (DIW) 3D printing.
The event of this ink was impressed by iridescent supplies present in nature that change shade based mostly on the angle from which they’re considered, equivalent to butterfly wings and the exteriors of jewel beetles. The ink’s reflective qualities are depending on the exact helical alignment of the fabric’s molecules, which will be managed throughout 3D printing by various parameters equivalent to 3D print pace.
The Eindhoven-based researchers view their multi-color 3D printing materials as providing potential for functions equivalent to ornamental lighting, delicate wearable sensors for well being monitoring, and augmented actuality optics.
Elsewhere, scientists from the Pacific Northwest Nationwide Laboratory (PNNL) developed a spread of vibrant, colourful and sustainable seaweed-based bioinks for 3D printing.
Referred to as ArtSea Ink, the biodegradable 3D printing supplies are made largely from alginate, a naturally occurring polymer sometimes present in brown seaweed. Alginate is biocompatible, low-cost, and can be utilized to kind a steady gel with out warmth, enabling it to be 3D printed at low temperatures.
The researchers designed this materials portfolio with creative functions in thoughts, formulating eight 8% alginate options in water with totally different coloured mica pigments. To check their materials, the crew 3D printed a glow-in-the-dark firefly and a vibrant blue anatomical mannequin of a human mind.
Subscribe to the 3D Printing Trade e-newsletter to maintain updated with the most recent 3D printing information. It’s also possible to comply with us on Twitter, like our Fb web page, and subscribe to the 3D Printing Trade Youtube channel to entry extra unique content material.
Are you interested by working within the additive manufacturing business? Go to 3D Printing Jobs to view a number of out there roles and kickstart your profession.
Featured picture reveals the multi-colored 3D printed chameleon. Picture by way of College of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.