A research team led by Professor Wu Dezhi at the Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University (XMU), has achieved a significant breakthrough in the three-dimensional printing of thermoset materials.
Their study is titled " Laser-assisted direct three-dimensional printing of free-standing thermoset devices".
Current direct ink writing methods assisted by thermal, acoustic, or ultraviolet fields face limitations in curing efficiency, material compatibility, and performance tuning, and often require the deposition and removal of supporting materials.
Laser-assisted in situ direct-write three-dimensional printing enables the fabrication of free-standing thermoset structures. [Photo/en.xmu.edu.cn]
The team has developed an approach that integrates in situ laser-induced solidification with direct ink writing, enabling the fabrication of functional and arbitrary free-standing thermoset structures without support materials.
During printing, a focused laser irradiates the microscale polymer jet and induces rapid crosslinking — within less than 0.25 seconds — through a strong photothermal effect. This method achieves a structural resolution of 50 micrometers and allows mechanical properties to be tuned by up to tenfold and electrical properties by up to twentyfold.
Laser-assisted in situ direct-write three-dimensional printing enables rapid fabrication with real-time property control. [Photo/en.xmu.edu.cn]
Offering a fast, stable, and programmable manufacturing strategy for thermoset structures, the technology has the potential to advance applications in flexible electronics, microfluidics, soft robotics, organ-on-chips, and biomedical scaffolds that require complex three-dimensional architectures and multifunctional integration.
Laser-assisted in situ printing technology enables the fabrication of three-dimensional flexible sensor devices. [Photo/en.xmu.edu.cn]
