Rapid multi-material 3D printing with projection micro-stereolithography using dynamic fluidic control

Abstract

Mask projection stereolithography is a digital light processing-based additive manufacturing technique that has various advantages, such as high-resolution, scanning-free parallel process, wide material sets available, and support-structure-free three-dimensional (3D) printing. However, multi-material 3D printing with mask projection stereolithography has been challenging due to difficulties of exchanging a liquid-state material in a vat. In this work, we report a rapid multi-material projection micro-stereolithography using dynamic fluidic control of multiple liquid photopolymers within an integrated fluidic cell. Highly complex multi-material 3D micro-structures are rapidly fabricated through an active material exchange process. Material flow rate in the fluidic cell, material exchange efficiency, and the effects of energy dosage on curing depth are studied for various photopolymers. In addition, the degree of cross-contamination between different materials in a 3D printed multi-material structure is evaluated to assess the quality of multi-material printing. The pressure-tight and leak-free fluidic cell enables active and fast switch between liquid photopolymers, even including micro-/nano-particle suspensions, which could potentially lead to facile 3D printing of multi-material metallic/ceramic structures or heterogeneous biomaterials. In addition, a multi-responsive hydrogel micro-structure is printed using a thermo-responsive hydrogel and an electroactive hydrogel, showing various modes of swelling actuation in response to multiple external stimuli. This new ability to rapidly and heterogeneously integrate multiple functional materials in three-dimension at micro-scale has potential to accelerate advances in many emerging areas including 3D metamaterials, tissue engineering, and soft robotics.