Use LED light to change the chemical structure of Massachusetts Institute of Technology 3D print object

Recently, Massachusetts Institute of Technology chemists have developed a new 3D printing technology, chemical chemical structure change allows a printing object and a plurality of 3D print object connection. It is reported that the complexity of the technology can significantly extend the print object created by 3D.

3D printing is a manufacturing technology incredible, can create many things from many kinds of materials. But there are technical limitations: on the one hand, 3D print object is generally can not be changed. They can even postprocessing, grinding, processing into smaller shape, but the chemical structure of 3D printing polymer object is fixed. But now, a group of chemical experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed a new 3D printing technology is used to change the chemical structure of the object, its chemical composition can be changed after printing, the technology also allows multiple 3D print objects together.

Now, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology team published their findings in a recent ACS central scientific journals. Jeremiah Johnson is a professional Firmenich occupation development of chemistry Massachusetts Institute of Technology associate professor, senior author and a research paper, he explained to MIT staff how to use this new technology to increase the complexity of 3D print object. "The idea is that you can print a material, and then take the material, use light material into something else, or further growth," he said.

Stereo lithography printing technology, liquid resin 3D pioneered by Systems, 3D, and Formlabs company 3D liquid resin printing technology 3D printing technology is one of the more accurate user process. Stereo lithography 3D printer will be a series of bright projection exposure to a bucket of liquid resin, the liquid resin in response to the light curing (hardening) layer, forming a solid object. By using stereo lithography and called "polymerization" combination of technology, Johnson and his team have been able to create 3D printing materials, can make the growth stop, and then start again at a later time point.

In early 2013, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that through the use of ultraviolet light, they can break the 3D printing structure of polymer, create is called "free radical reaction". Free radicals can then bind to the surrounding new monomer, incorporating them into raw materials. Johnson said: "this advantage is that you can turn on the lights, they grow up, you put the lights off, they stop. In principle, you can repeat indefinitely, they can continue to grow."

Unfortunately, attempts to control free radical can prove very difficult, undue damage to 3D printing materials. But the chemical experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology came up with another method: blue light from LED. As for 3D printing polymer containing chemical group TTC, which can be opened by a light activated organic catalyst. When by LED blue, these TTC extend with new monomer attachment. Because of these monomers added evenly, they provide new materials for performance. "We can take the macro material, and grow in the way we want," Johnson said.

By using LED technology, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that they can change the various properties of 3D print object structure, including their stiffness and hydrophobicity (their rejection or absorption of water level). By adding some type of monomer, the chemist can make material in response to temperature expansion or contraction. In addition, they can pass in the interconnection area to melt two light illuminates the 3D object. The researchers said, "this particular process can be used to create 3D printing large, stable chemical structure, and has a hitherto unknown complexity."

Now, an obstacle facing researchers is the experimental environment for maintaining anaerobic, for use in the process of the organic catalyst in the presence of oxygen can not play a role. However, the test group in other catalytic oxygen environment similar polymerization.

Through a combination of polymer science and materials science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers opened several exciting opportunities for advanced 3D printing.

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