New Promises and Opportunities in 3D Printable Inks Based on Coordination Compounds for the Creation of Objects with Multiple Applications

Abstract

This review focuses on the usefulness of coordination bonds to create 3D printable inks and shows how the union of chemistry and 3D technology contributes to new scientific advances, by allowing amorphous or polycrystalline solids to be transformed into objects with the desired shape for successful applications. The review clearly shows how there has been considerable increase in the manufacture of objects based on the combination of organic matrices and coordination compounds. These coordination compounds are usually homogeneously dispersed within the matrix, anchored onto a proper support or coating the printed object, without destroying their unique properties. Advances are so rapid that today it is already possible to 3D print objects made exclusively from coordination compounds without additives. The new printable inks are made mainly with nanoscale nonporous coordination polymers, metal–organic gels, or metal–organic frameworks. The highly dynamic coordination bond allows the creation of objects, which respond to stimuli, that can act as sensors and be used for drug delivery. In addition, the combination of metal–organic frameworks with 3D printing allows the adsorption or selective capacity of the object to be increased, relative to that of the original compound, which is useful in energy storage, gas separation, or water pollutant elimination. Furthermore, the presence of the metal ion can give them new properties, such as luminescence, that are useful for application in sensors or anticounterfeiting. Technological advances, the combination of various printing techniques, and the properties of coordination bonds lead to the creation of surprising, new, printable inks and objects with highly complex shapes that will close the gap between academia and industry for research into coordination compounds.

Ethanol‐Induced Ni2+‐Intercalated Cobalt Organic Frameworks on Vanadium Pentoxide for Synergistically Enhancing the Performance of 3D‐Printed Micro‐Supercapacitors

“…[30,31] Generally, MSC manufacturing strategies are primarily based on traditional and expensive lithographic technologies. [32,33] In contrast, 3D printing technology is an excellent alternative method to fabricate MSCs with a customized geometry. The construction of high-performance MSCs using 1D nanowires (NWs), nanotubes, and other low-dimensional nanomaterials is significant for the preparation of flexible and integrated devices.…”

How Can We Provide Additively Manufactured Parts with a Fingerprint? A Review of Tagging Strategies in Additive Manufacturing

“…At present, the literature offers several examples of organic compounds that can be effectively used in anti-counterfeiting strategies (for example, coordination compounds [ 18 ], sequence-coded polyurethanes [ 59 ], organic colour-tunable phosphorescent materials [ 60 ], polymers with mechanochromic properties and structural colour materials [ 61 , 62 , 63 ]). However, these materials have not been exploited in AM yet, likely because very little is known about their printability, and extensive research is still needed to unlock their potential.…”

“…A bibliographic search conducted in Scopus on 24 October 2021, entering “additive manufacturing” AND “anti-counterfeiting” as keywords in “article title, abstract, keywords” returned only 17 results. Whereas the majority of these papers described polymer-based parts, the list narrowed down to six results upon adding “metal” as an additional keyword, with the search results including the experimental contributions by Eisenbarth et al [ 12 ], Flank et al [ 14 ], Terranova et al [ 17 ], and Wei et al [ 10 ], the review paper on 3D printable inks based on coordination compounds by Maldonado and Amo-Ochoa [ 18 ], and the introduction to the “6th International Conference on Precision Machinery and Manufacturing Technology” [ 19 ]. It is worth noting that none of the identified papers dealt with ceramic-based AM.…”

3D printing of cellulose/leaf-like zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (CelloZIF-L) for adsorption of carbon dioxide (CO2) and heavy metal ions

“…16,17 Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are promising porous materials for several applications. [18][19][20][21][22][23][24] 3D printed MOF monoliths were reported using a variety of supports, 4,[25][26][27][28] including MOF-74, 29 the University of Texas at San Antonio-16 (UTSA-16), 30 Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST-1), 31 leaf-like zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIF-L), 32 and ZIF-8. [33][34][35][36] This advanced the shaping and processing of MOF materials.…”