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Mechanically Robust and UV‐Curable Shape‐Memory Polymers for Digital Light Processing Based 4D Printing
Author(s) -
Zhang Biao,
Li Honggeng,
Cheng Jianxiang,
Ye Haitao,
Sakhaei Amir Hosein,
Yuan Chao,
Rao Ping,
Zhang YuanFang,
Chen Zhe,
Wang Rong,
He Xiangnan,
Liu Ji,
Xiao Rui,
Qu Shaoxing,
Ge Qi
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.202101298
Subject(s) - materials science , 3d printing , digital light processing , shape memory polymer , digital printing , fabrication , soft robotics , aerospace , 3d printer , polymer , nanotechnology , composite material , mechanical engineering , computer science , engineering drawing , robot , medicine , projector , alternative medicine , pathology , artificial intelligence , law , political science , engineering , computer vision
4D printing is an emerging fabrication technology that enables 3D printed structures to change configuration over “time” in response to an environmental stimulus. Compared with other soft active materials used for 4D printing, shape‐memory polymers (SMPs) have higher stiffness, and are compatible with various 3D printing technologies. Among them, ultraviolet (UV)‐curable SMPs are compatible with Digital Light Processing (DLP)‐based 3D printing to fabricate SMP‐based structures with complex geometry and high‐resolution. However, UV‐curable SMPs have limitations in terms of mechanical performance, which significantly constrains their application ranges. Here, a mechanically robust and UV‐curable SMP system is reported, which is highly deformable, fatigue resistant, and compatible with DLP‐based 3D printing, to fabricate high‐resolution (up to 2 µm), highly complex 3D structures that exhibit large shape change (up to 1240%) upon heating. More importantly, the developed SMP system exhibits excellent fatigue resistance and can be repeatedly loaded more than 10 000 times. The development of the mechanically robust and UV‐curable SMPs significantly improves the mechanical performance of the SMP‐based 4D printing structures, which allows them to be applied to engineering applications such as aerospace, smart furniture, and soft robots.