Advanced Additive Manufacturing of Structurally-Colored Architectures.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Additive Manufacturing
• Colloid Science

Background:

• Direct ink writing (DIW) is a waste-reducing additive manufacturing technique.
• Developing Bingham inks with high yield stress and rapid transitions for DIW is challenging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To formulate high-performance Bingham inks for DIW using silica particle suspensions.
• To achieve tunable rheological properties and structural coloration in printed materials.

Main Methods:

• Formulating Bingham inks by destabilizing silica suspensions in acrylate resin.
• Utilizing polar molecules to disrupt solvation layers and form colloidal networks.
• Controlling particle concentration and interparticle attraction for gelation.

Main Results:

• Created dense colloidal networks with uniform linkage strength and high yield stress.
• Achieved rapid, reversible liquid-to-solid transitions upon shear removal.
• Developed structurally colored 3D prints based on colloidal network ordering.
• Demonstrated high mechanical stability in printed composite structures.

Conclusions:

• The developed Bingham inks enable sophisticated 3D printing of structurally colored objects.
• The colloidal network provides excellent rheological properties and mechanical integrity.
• This approach expands the application range of DIW technology.