Additive manufacturing, commonly referred to as 3D printing (3DP), has ushered in a new era of advanced manufacturing that is seemingly limited only by imagination. In actuality, the fullest potentials of 3DP can only be realized through innovative breakthroughs in printing technologies and build materials. Whereas equipment for 3DP has experienced considerable development, molecular-scale programming of function, adaptivity, and responsiveness in 3DP is burgeoning. This review aims to summarize the state-of-the-art in stimuli-responsive materials that are being explored in 3DP. First, we discuss stimuli-responsiveness as it is used to enable 3DP. This highlights the diverse ways in which molecular structure and reactivity dictate energy transduction that in turn enables 3D processability. Second, we summarize efforts that have demonstrated the use of 3DP to create materials, devices, and systems that are in their final stage stimuli-responsive. This section encourages the artistic license of advanced manufacturing to be applied toward leveraging, or enhancing, energy transduction to impart device function across multiple length scales.
Another review article just went online!
This review describes the current status and exciting potential of dual polymerization chemistry to provide advanced biomaterials. The review article is a continuation of our collaboration with the Pun Research Group at the University of …
Check out our latest review article!
This review focuses on recent advances in 3DP with stimuli-responsive materials. The publication is a continuation of our ongoing collaboration with the Nelson Research Group at the University of Washington. URL: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2018/TA/C8TA07716A#!divAbstract
Dr. Dan Seidenkranz joins the Boydston Research Group
A huge welcome to Dr. Dan Seidenkranz, who received his PhD from the University of Oregon in 2018. Dan’s expertise is in organic synthesis, physical organic chemistry, and supramolecular chemistry. He plans to accelerate our …
Dual Polymerizations: Untapped Potential for Biomaterials
Block copolymers with unique architectures and those that can self‐assemble into supramolecular structures are used in medicine as biomaterial scaffolds and delivery vehicles for cells, therapeutics, and imaging agents. To date, much of the work relies on controlling polymer behavior by varying the monomer side chains to add functionality and tune hydrophobicity. Although varying the side chains is an efficient strategy to control polymer behavior, changing the polymer backbone can also be a powerful approach to modulate polymer self‐assembly, rigidity, reactivity, and biodegradability for biomedical applications. There are many developments in the syntheses of polymers with segmented backbones, but these developments are not widely adopted as strategies to address the unique constraints and requirements of polymers for biomedical applications. This review highlights dual polymerization strategies for the synthesis of backbone‐segmented block copolymers to facilitate their adoption for biomedical applications.
Check out our latest paper, just published in Additive Manufacturing
Congrats to Johanna Schwartz on her successful collaboration with the Waas group at the University of Washington. URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214860418301441?dgcid=rss_sd_all
Dr. Jianxun Cui joins the Boydston Research Group
We’re excited to welcome Dr. Jianxun Cui, who brings expertise in mechanical engineering with an emphasis on heat shrink polymers, composites, and actuators.
AJ Boydston joins University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Chemistry
On August 1, chemist AJ Boydston, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Yamamoto Family Professor of Chemistry, joins the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Chemistry. He brings research scientist Dr. Chang-Uk Lee and students Johanna Schwartz …
Optimized Heterogeneous Plates with Holes Using 3D Printing via Vat Photopolymerization
New advancements in 3D printing enable manufacturing a solid part with spatially controlled and varying material properties; this research seeks to establish techniques for finding optimal designs that use this new technology for the greatest structural benefit. We describe the use of a sequential quadratic programming based optimization solver to find an optimal distribution of material properties that minimize strain energy gradients, as calculated using finite element analysis. This design method is applied to the case of a flat thin plate with a hole, and has been proven to successfully reduce strain energy gradients and therefore stress concentrations. The optimally designed plates are 3D printed using a novel technology that uses vat polymerization technology. The computational model is validated with experiments. Enabling design engineers to customize material properties around geometric discontinuities will provide greater flexibility in reducing stress concentrations without modifying geometry or adding additional supports.
Additive Manufacturing with a Flex Activated Mechanophore for Nondestructive Assessment of Mechanochemical Reactivity in Complex Object Geometries
We used digital light processing additive manufacturing (DLP-AM) to produce mechanochemically responsive test specimens from custom photoresin formulations, wherein designer, flex activated mechanophores enable quantitative assessment of the total mechanophore activation in the specimen. The manufactured object geometries included an octet truss unit cell, a gyroid lattice, and an “8D cubic lattice”. The mechanophore activation in each test specimen was measured as a function of uniaxial compressive strain applied to the structure. Full shape recovery after compression was exhibited in all cases. These proof-of-concept results signify the potential to use flex activated mechanophore for nondestructive, quantitative volumetric assessment of mechanochemistry in test specimens with complex geometries. Additionally, the integration of DLP-AM with flex activated mechanophore build materials enabled the creation of customizable, three-dimensional mechanochemically responsive parts that exhibit small molecule release without undergoing irreversible deformation or fracture.