Li Xichuan, Xiu Yuan, Lee Kenny, Zhang Jin, Corrigan Nathaniel, Boyer Cyrille
Cluster for Advanced Macromolecular Design, School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Adv Mater. 2025 Sep;37(37):e2503245. doi: 10.1002/adma.202503245. Epub 2025 Jun 29.
Light-mediated 3D printing has revolutionized additive manufacturing, progressing from pointwise stereolithography, to layer-by-layer digital light processing, and most recently to volumetric 3D printing. Xolography, a novel light-sheet-based volumetric 3D printing approach, offers high-speed and high-precision fabrication of complex geometries unattainable with traditional methods. However, achieving nanoscale control (<100 nm) within these 3D printing systems remains unexplored. This work leverages polymerization-induced microphase separation (PIMS) within the xolography process to prepare network polymer materials with simultaneous control over feature sizes at the nano-, micro-, and macro-scale. By controlling the chain length and mass fraction of macromolecular chain transfer agents used in the PIMS process, precise manipulation of nanodomain size within 3D printed materials is demonstrated, while optimization of the other resin components enables the fabrication of rigid materials with feature sizes of 80 µm. Critically, the rapid one-step fabrication of complex and multi-component structures such as a functional waterwheel with interlocking parts, at high volume-building rates is showcased. This combined approach expands the design space for functional nanomaterials, opening new avenues for applications in diverse fields such as polymer electrolyte membranes, biomedical delivery systems, and semi-permeable microcapsules.
光介导的3D打印彻底改变了增材制造技术，从逐点立体光刻发展到逐层数字光处理，最近又发展到体三维打印。全息光刻是一种基于新型光片的体三维打印方法，能够高速、高精度地制造传统方法无法实现的复杂几何形状。然而，在这些3D打印系统中实现纳米级控制（<100nm）仍未得到探索。这项工作利用全息光刻过程中的聚合诱导微相分离（PIMS）来制备网络聚合物材料，同时在纳米、微米和宏观尺度上控制特征尺寸。通过控制PIMS过程中使用的大分子链转移剂的链长和质量分数，展示了对3D打印材料中纳米域尺寸的精确操纵，而其他树脂成分的优化则能够制造出特征尺寸为80μm的刚性材料。至关重要的是，展示了以高体积构建速率快速一步制造复杂多组件结构（如带有互锁部件的功能性水车）的过程。这种组合方法扩展了功能纳米材料的设计空间，为聚合物电解质膜、生物医学输送系统和半透性微胶囊等不同领域的应用开辟了新途径。
