A research team from the University of Calgary has been tinkering with the use of 3D printing with liquids to create spongy materials for use in myriad industries, including energy storage and tissue engineering.
Traditionally, the techniques used are limited to drop-by-drop printing and face limitations with regards to building structured materials. Professor Hossein Hejazi said the team added nanoparticles to water and chemical compounds, or surfactants molecules, to oil.
“By injecting this water into the oil, the interface between the oil and water spontaneously turns into emulsion, forming an interfacial skin made of many tiny water droplets that are sticking together,” he said.
Dr. Parisa Bazazi added that it’s a simple approach as the skin is flexible and regenerates when damaged. “The tubelike printed features have a spongy texture resembling miniaturized versions of tube sponges found in oceans,” she said. “Our analysis shows that stable liquid filaments of silica are formed when emulsions are generated and remain at the interface during the printing period.”
Liquid-in-liquid printed materials have many potential uses in energy storage, microreactors, and for creating biomimetic materials like tissues and polymers, Hejazi said.
“All printed structures in our work are handwritten and only contain water, mineral oil, silica nanoparticles, and an oil-soluble surfactant, indicating that the printing process is simple, non-invasive and can be accomplished in any laboratory without the need of external forces, sophisticated equipment, or special types of adhesive materials,” he said.
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