Recent Trends and Innovation in Additive Manufacturing of Soft Functional Materials

Abstract

The growing demand for wearable devices, soft robotics, and tissue engineering in recent years has led to an increased effort in the field of soft materials. With the advent of personalized devices, the one-shape-fits-all manufacturing methods may soon no longer be the standard for the rapidly increasing market of soft devices. Recent findings have pushed technology and materials in the area of additive manufacturing (AM) as an alternative fabrication method for soft functional devices, taking geometrical designs and functionality to greater heights. For this reason, this review aims to highlights recent development and advances in AM processable soft materials with self-healing, shape memory, electronic, chromic or any combination of these functional properties. Furthermore, the influence of AM on the mechanical and physical properties on the functionality of these materials is expanded upon. Additionally, advances in soft devices in the fields of soft robotics, biomaterials, sensors, energy harvesters, and optoelectronics are discussed. Lastly, current challenges in AM for soft functional materials and future trends are discussed.

Special Issue: The Science and Technology of 3D Printing

“…This Special Issue contains eleven articles, including three reviews [ 3 , 4 , 5 ], one perspective article [ 6 ], and seven research articles [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ] from leading institutes in the United States, China, Australia, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, and United Arab Emirates. These articles cover the 3D printing of diverse materials such as metallic materials [ 5 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ], composites [ 4 , 6 ], and soft materials [ 3 ].…”

“…The three reviews and the perspective article indicate the progress made, the existing challenges, and the research needs in the contemporary fields of study. Recent trends and innovations in the printing of soft materials for wearable devices, soft robotics, and tissue engineering were reviewed by Regis et al [ 3 ]. Pervaiz et al [ 4 ] reviewed the 3D printing of fiber-reinforced plastic composites using fused deposition modeling.…”

Additive manufacturing of highly flexible impact wave propagation sensor

“…There are several different types of AM technologies, each with its own unique identity, depending on the application and material category. The most commonly used methods are extrusion-based 3D printing, such as fused deposition modeling (FDM) [1] and direct ink writing (DIW) [2], as well as laser/beambased 3D printing, such as selective laser sintering (SLS) [3][4] [5], selective laser melting (SLM) [6], directed energy deposition (DED) [7], binder jetting (BJ) [8], and stereolithography (SLA) [9]. In particular, DIW has the potential to develop 3D printed sensors with superior functional properties.…”

Additively manufactured unimorph dielectric elastomer actuators: Design, materials, and fabrication

“…Therefore, characterizing material manufacturability is an important aspect of high-performance DEA design implementation through 3D printing. For instance, viscosity is one of the primary properties of uncured elastomer that enables printing, determines printing parameters, and drives the printed material rheology through traditional dispensing and newly developed techniques (Chortos et al, 2020;Schlatter et al, 2020;Chortos et al, 2021;Jiang et al, 2021;Regis et al, 2021;Shintake et al, 2021;Li et al, 2022;Naniz et al, 2022). In the literature, viscosity and storage shear modulus are measured after Exact values were not reported and were adopted from studies on similar materials.…”