Additive Manufacturing of Nano- and Microarchitected Ceramics
Final Report Abstract
This research report unveils a groundbreaking approach in the field of microfabrication through Two-Photon Lithography (TPL)-enabled 3D printing of Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) with sub-500 nm resolution. Our work primarily focuses on developing a novel organicinorganic hybrid resin, leveraging a wet chemistry method inspired by the Pechini process. This technique addresses the key challenges of inorganic material processing in TPL, notably the opacity issue due to light scattering. The resin formulation, optimized for TPL, ensures high translucency, appropriate viscosity, and photopolymerization capabilities, enabling the creation of complex microstructures with high shape fidelity and minimal geometric distortion. The significance of this innovation lies in its potential applications. YSZ is renowned for its exceptional mechanical properties, low thermal conductivity, and biocompatibility, making it ideal for uses ranging from biomedical devices to advanced ceramics. Moreover, the ability to fabricate intricate structures at sub-micron scales opens new avenues in various fields, including microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and microfluidics. Our findings demonstrate that the synthesized resin, when processed through TPL and subjected to customized debinding and sintering protocols, results in high-quality ceramic microobjects. These objects not only exhibit excellent shape fidelity post-sintering but also show promising properties such as optical transparency at certain temperatures. This research marks a significant step forward in micro- and nano-fabrication technology, potentially revolutionizing the production of inorganic materials for a multitude of applications.
