Controlling Light in Scattering Materials for Volumetric Additive Manufacturing.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Optical Engineering
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Volumetric 3D printing offers rapid fabrication of complex structures.
• Current light-based volumetric techniques are limited to transparent materials due to light scattering.
• Scattering in resins scrambles light patterns, hindering polymerization and print fidelity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a 3D printing method that accounts for light scattering in resins.
• To enable high-fidelity volumetric printing in scattering media.
• To demonstrate the broad applicability of the technique in diverse materials.

Main Methods:

• A novel computational approach to predict and correct for light scattering effects.
• Utilizing a tomographic volumetric printer equipped with scattering correction algorithms.
• Fabricating functional objects in both hard scattering acrylates and soft cell-laden hydrogels.

Main Results:

• The proposed scattering correction method is critical for printing objects larger than the scattering mean free path.
• High print fidelity was achieved in challenging scattering materials.
• Successful fabrication of functional objects in both organic and biological scattering media.

Conclusions:

• The developed technique overcomes limitations of light scattering in volumetric 3D printing.
• This advancement opens new possibilities for printing within turbid materials.
• Significant potential for applications in bioprinting and fabricating complex constructs in scattering environments.