3D Printing-In Situ Curing of Soft Organogels Using Frontal Polymerizable Inks.

Abstract

3D printing has gained immense recognition owing to its fascinating ability for rapid prototyping and customization. However, the current methods usually require post-processing (direct ink writing) or continuous energy input (stereolithography) for polymer gel curing. The former lowers the fidelity and integrity of the printed layers, whereas the latter suffers from high energy consumption. To address these issues, a frontal polymerization (FP)-3D printing-in situ-curing method is developed to construct printable and polymerizable inks for acrylate-based monomers and soft organogel materials. Once initiated, no external energy supply is required, which allows for real-time conversion of monomers into polymers within seconds. Thus, the energy requirements are reduced by several orders of magnitude. More importantly, the printed structure is closely bonded, effectively avoiding the collapse and deformation of soft materials. The as-printed organogel is used as an evaporator and achieves a high water-evaporation rate of 3.77 kg m^-2h^-1. This FP-3D printing-in situ-curing strategy is an alternative, energy-saving method for fabricating soft materials, enabling high fidelity and integrity of printed patterns with wide applicability.