polymers, [31,32] and foams [33][34][35] in a layerwise manner. To date, DIW has been used to produce periodic ceramic architectures ranging from honeycombs to 3D woodpile lattices. However, despite significant advances in both light-and ink-based 3DP methods, freeform fabrication of ceramic architectures with arbitrary composition and geometry remains challenging.Embedded 3D (EMB3D) printing offers a promising route for creating architected ceramics via freeform writing in a support matrix. In its initial embodiment, vascularized systems were produced by writing sacrificial inks within soft [36,37] and living [38] matrices. This method was extended to create soft strain sensors and proprioceptive robotic grippers by writing conductive particle-filled [39] and ionogel inks [40] within elastomeric matrices, respectively. More recently, other research groups have generated ceramic filaments by printing colloidal inks within a sacrificial support matrix. [41,42] However, they did not create complex structures nor report their microstructural or mechanical properties after densification. Hence, the ability to dry, cure, and harvest ceramic parts produced by EMB3D printing for load-bearing applications has yet to be demonstrated.Here, we report a method for fabricating architected ceramics with controlled composition in arbitrary geometries that combines EMB3D printing with microwave-activated curing. [43,44] We first created concentrated colloidal gels that contain thermally curable species and are compatible with our silicone-based support matrix while exhibiting the requisite rheological properties for EMB3D printing. As exemplars, we printed architected ceramics in the form of monolithic and multimaterial lattices, as well as interpenetrating chain structures. Next, we investigated the effects of microwave-activated curing on the ability to generate parts with sufficient handling strength for their removal from the support matrix and subsequent densification during sintering. Our integrated manufacturing approach enables complex ceramics architectures to be manufactured with programmable composition in freeform shapes that may be of potential interest for structural, biomedical, and energy applications.
Results and DiscussionEMB3D printing with microwave-activated curing is shown in Figure 1a. Printed filaments are extruded through a nozzle Light-and ink-based 3D printing methods have vastly expanded the design space and geometric complexity of architected ceramics. However, light-based methods are typically confined to a relatively narrow range of preceramic and particle-laden resins, while ink-based methods are limited in geometric complexity due to layerwise assembly. Here, embedded 3D printing is combined with microwave-activated curing to generate architected ceramics with spatially controlled composition in freeform shapes. Aqueous colloidal inks are printed within a support matrix, rapidly cured via microwave-activated polymerization, and subsequently dried and sintered into dense architectures composed of ...