Multi‐Material, Multi‐Process, Planar, and Nonplanar Additive Manufacturing of Piezoelectric Devices

Abstract

Nonplanar multi‐material additive manufacturing (AM) of piezoelectric devices is an important step for innovation in digital manufacturing. Herein this work, the development of a manufacturing platform based on multi‐material multi‐process AM that enables fabrication of piezoelectric and conductive electrode materials with complex planar and nonplanar (conformal) structures is reported. Also, the development of conductive and piezoelectric paste‐like printing materials, herein called inks, for extrusion‐based direct‐writing AM processes is presented. The developed inks are highly stretchable (e.g., up to 100% before breaking), easy to process, and less toxic compared to existing solvent evaporation‐based inks in the literature. Several piezoelectric energy‐harvesting (PEH) devices are fabricated. The innovative inks within a multi‐material multi‐process 3D printing platform can substantially broaden the design space of multi‐material AM and open up new opportunities for the production of application‐oriented parts that are more integrable, conformable, scalable, and versatile.

Additive manufacturing: pushing the boundaries of piezoelectric materials

“…Therefore, recently, additive manufacturing (AM) technology has attracted worldwide researchers' attention in the field of manufacturing piezoelectric materials with complex structures for various implements. [12][13][14] AM could directly manufacture components based on the discrete-accumulation principle and driven by three-dimensional data thereof. The specific procedures include model design, discrete slicing and layer-bylayer printing, and finally an arbitrary three-dimensional structure could be realized.…”

Digital Light Processing 3D Printing of Soft Semicrystalline Acrylates with Localized Shape Memory and Stiffness Control

“…Sequential projections of two-dimensional (2D) images synced with a motorized build platform enable layer-by-layer reconstruction of a 3D object. While great advances have been made with DLP using a wide array of acrylic and epoxy resins, produced parts remain predominantly monolithic and amorphous, resulting in fixed, nonstimuli-responsive thermomechanical behavior (Figure B) . Refining the resins to enable DLP of multimaterial semicrystalline objects promises to greatly expand the number and diversity of end-use applications by, for example, enabling localization of stiffness and programmable actuation (e.g., shape memory) (Figure C).…”

“…While great advances have been made with DLP using a wide array of acrylic and epoxy resins, produced parts remain predominantly monolithic and amorphous, resulting in fixed, nonstimuli-responsive thermomechanical behavior (Figure 1B). 3 Refining the resins to enable DLP of multimaterial semicrystalline objects promises to greatly expand the number and diversity of end-use applications by, for example, enabling localization of stiffness and programmable actuation (e.g., shape memory) (Figure 1C). Moreover, 3D-printing stimuli-responsive "smart" objects (a.k.a., "four-dimensional (4D)" printing) has far-reaching utility in biomedical devices, such as wearable health monitors, surgical tools, and implants.…”

Non‐Planar Multiprocess Additive Manufacturing of Multifunctional Composites

“…The use of combined FFF and DIW techniques was explored by Rafiee et al to realize the multiprocess and multimaterial AM of piezoelectric polymer (using DIW) on various thermoplastic structures (using FFF). [17] The prototypes were very small (i.e., few cm long) and the geometries were simple (e.g., beams, dome). A combination of four AM technologies (i.e., inkjet, FFF, DIW, and aerosol jetting) was demonstrated by Roach et al to fabricate various complex multimaterial, multifunctional devices.…”