Three-Dimensional Printing of Ceramics through “Carving” a Gel and “Filling in” the Precursor Polymer

Abstract

Achieving a viable process for three-dimensional (3D) printing of ceramics is a sought-after goal in a wide range of fields including electronics and sensors for harsh environments, microelectromechanical devices, energy storage materials, and structural materials, among others. Low laser absorption of ceramic powders renders available additive manufacturing (AM) technologies for metals not suitable for ceramics. Polymer solutions that can be converted to ceramics (preceramic polymers) offer a unique opportunity to 3D-print ceramics; however, due to the low viscosity of these polymers, so far, their 3D printing has only been possible by combining them with specialized light-sensitive agents and subsequently cross-linking them layer by layer by rastering an optical beam. The slow rate, lack of scalability to large specimens, and specialized chemistry requirements of this optical process are fundamental limitations. Here, we demonstrate 3D printing of ceramics enabled by dispensing the preceramic polymer at the tip of a moving nozzle into a gel that can reversibly switch between fluid and solid states, and subsequently thermally cross-linking the entire printed part "at-once" while still inside the same gel. The solid gel, which is composed of mineral oil and silica nanoparticles, converts to fluid at the tip of the moving nozzle, allows the polymer solution to be dispensed, and quickly returns to a solid state to maintain the geometry of the printed polymer both during printing and the subsequent high-temperature (160 °C) cross-linking. We retrieve the cross-linked part from the gel and convert it to ceramic by high-temperature pyrolysis. This scalable process opens up new opportunities for low-cost and high-speed production of complex three-dimensional ceramic parts and will be widely used for high temperature and corrosive environment applications, including electronics and sensors, microelectromechanical systems, energy and structural applications.

Preparation of AlB12 Powder by Self-Propagating High-Temperature Synthesis (SHS)

“…It can effectively adjust the conductivity of semiconductor materials, and thus is extensively employed in conductors and semiconductor materials. In addition to the above characteristics, the content of boron in AlB12 is extremely high, reaching 82.8%, which is very promising as neutron shielding material [11][12][13].…”

Processing and 3D printing of SiCN polymer‐derived ceramics

“…1,2 Among various methods for AM of ceramics including photolithography, binder jetting, laser sintering, and free-form extrusion of ceramic particle-based slurries, [3][4][5][6][7][8] AM of polymer-derived ceramics 9 is notable, since in their polymer state they are suitable for printing, Honoring Dr. Mrityunjay Singh and the subsequent cross-linking maintains the printed geometry in a net shape. [10][11][12] Various methods such as lithography [13][14][15][16][17] and direct extrusion in the air or a yieldstress bath [18][19][20][21] have been used for AM of PDCs.…”

Analysis on Electrolytic Behavior of Aluminium Dodecaboride/Alumina (AlB12/Al2O3) Composite Ceramic Powder

“…Metal borides are interstitial phase compounds, and their chemical bond composition is relatively complex (18,19). At the same time, they include one or more of MM metal bond, BB covalent bond and BM ionic bond.…”