Multi-color dual wavelength vat photopolymerization 3D printing via spatially controlled acidity.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38719871.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-48159-7 and PMC identifier 11078982.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Dual wavelength vat photopolymerization (DW-VP) has emerged as a powerful approach to create multimaterial objects. However, only a limited range of properties have been showcased. In this work, we report the 3D printing (3DP) of multi-color objects from a single resin vat using DW-VP. This was accomplished by concurrently curing resin with visible light and modulating local resin color with 365-nm ultraviolet (UV) light. The key advance was to use a photoacid generator (PAG) in combination with pH responsive dyes in the 3DP resins. The specific color is dictated by the extent of reaction, or local acidity in our case, and controlled by the light dosage and pattern of UV light applied. Multi-color object formation was implemented in two-step processes involving first 3DP to set the object structure, followed by UV exposure, as well as single processes that leveraged DW-VP to create a broad range of vibrant colors and patterns.