Three dimensional printing of polymers can be done through a moving orifice (e.g. fused deposition) or by photopolymerizing a liquid (e.g. stereolithography). In 2013, we developed a new form of stereolithographic printer using an image projector, a PDMS coated window and a moving platform, as shown below. This system can print significantly faster than the traditional scanning laser and recoating blade. We exploit this speed to print at very small (~micron) scale and very soft (KPa to MPa) polymers that are used in regenerative medicine. We are currently printing implants for defects of knee cartilage that may provide a cure to osteoarthritis.
The team
Showing off (sometimes we print things that are just for fun)
A printed Eiffel Tower suspended in ethanol in a vial. The dark blob on the left is a finger-tip.
X-ray tomography videos and of the printed Eiffel tower held by a finger
Learn more
- A. C. Uzcategui, A. Muralidharan, V. L. Ferguson, S. J. Bryant, and R. R. McLeod, “,” Advanced Engineering Materials 2018, 1800876, 2018. .
- Elizabeth A Aisenbrey, Andrew Tomaschke, Eric Kleinjan, Archish Muralidharan, Cecilia Pascual-Garrido, Robert R McLeod, Virginia L. Ferguson, Stephanie J Bryant, “,”Macromol. Biosci.2017, 1700267, 2017
- Callie Fiedler,,ֲý, 2017.
- C. I. Fiedler, E. A. Aisenbrey, J.A. Wahlquist, C. M. Heveran, V. L. Ferguson, S. J. Bryant, and R. R. McLeod, “,” Soft Matter12, 9095 – 9104,2016
- A.C. Urness, E.D. Moore, K.K. Kamysiak, M.C Cole and R.R McLeod,,” Light: Science & Applications2(Nature Publishing Group) , e56, 2013
- A. Linnenberger, M. I. Bodine, C. Fiedler, J. J. Roberts, S. C. Skaalure, S. J. Bryant M. Cole, R. R. McLeod,,” Optics Express21, 10269-10277, 2013