IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v540y2016i7633d10.1038_nature21003.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Printing soft matter in three dimensions

Author

Listed:
  • Ryan L. Truby

    (John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University
    Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University)

  • Jennifer A. Lewis

    (John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University
    Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University)

Abstract

Light- and ink-based three-dimensional (3D) printing methods allow the rapid design and fabrication of materials without the need for expensive tooling, dies or lithographic masks. They have led to an era of manufacturing in which computers can control the fabrication of soft matter that has tunable mechanical, electrical and other functional properties. The expanding range of printable materials, coupled with the ability to programmably control their composition and architecture across various length scales, is driving innovation in myriad applications. This is illustrated by examples of biologically inspired composites, shape-morphing systems, soft sensors and robotics that only additive manufacturing can produce.

Suggested Citation

  • Ryan L. Truby & Jennifer A. Lewis, 2016. "Printing soft matter in three dimensions," Nature, Nature, vol. 540(7633), pages 371-378, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:540:y:2016:i:7633:d:10.1038_nature21003
    DOI: 10.1038/nature21003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature21003
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/nature21003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Minju Song & Yoonkyum Kim & Du San Baek & Ho Young Kim & Da Hwi Gu & Haiyang Li & Benjamin V. Cunning & Seong Eun Yang & Seung Hwae Heo & Seunghyun Lee & Minhyuk Kim & June Sung Lim & Hu Young Jeong &, 2023. "3D microprinting of inorganic porous materials by chemical linking-induced solidification of nanocrystals," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Yuxuan Sun & Liu Wang & Yangyang Ni & Huajian Zhang & Xiang Cui & Jiahao Li & Yinbo Zhu & Ji Liu & Shiwu Zhang & Yong Chen & Mujun Li, 2023. "3D printing of thermosets with diverse rheological and functional applicabilities," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Jiawei Lv & Jeong Hyun Han & Geonho Han & Seongmin An & Seung Ju Kim & Ryeong Myeong Kim & Jung‐El Ryu & Rena Oh & Hyuckjin Choi & In Han Ha & Yoon Ho Lee & Minje Kim & Gyeong-Su Park & Ho Won Jang & , 2024. "Spatiotemporally modulated full-polarized light emission for multiplexed optical encryption," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    4. Tsang, Chi Him Alpha & Huang, Haibao & Xuan, Jin & Wang, Huizhi & Leung, D.Y.C., 2020. "Graphene materials in green energy applications: Recent development and future perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    5. Dongliang Fan & Xi Yuan & Wenyu Wu & Renjie Zhu & Xin Yang & Yuxuan Liao & Yunteng Ma & Chufan Xiao & Cheng Chen & Changyue Liu & Hongqiang Wang & Peiwu Qin, 2022. "Self-shrinking soft demoulding for complex high-aspect-ratio microchannels," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    6. Pei Zhang & Iek Man Lei & Guangda Chen & Jingsen Lin & Xingmei Chen & Jiajun Zhang & Chengcheng Cai & Xiangyu Liang & Ji Liu, 2022. "Integrated 3D printing of flexible electroluminescent devices and soft robots," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    7. Caicong Li & Jianxiang Cheng & Yunfeng He & Xiangnan He & Ziyi Xu & Qi Ge & Canhui Yang, 2023. "Polyelectrolyte elastomer-based ionotronic sensors with multi-mode sensing capabilities via multi-material 3D printing," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    8. Mahdi Derayatifar & Mohsen Habibi & Rama Bhat & Muthukumaran Packirisamy, 2024. "Holographic direct sound printing," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    9. Yu Zhang & Lidian Zhang & Chengqi Zhang & Jingxia Wang & Junchao Liu & Changqing Ye & Zhichao Dong & Lei Wu & Yanlin Song, 2022. "Continuous resin refilling and hydrogen bond synergistically assisted 3D structural color printing," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:540:y:2016:i:7633:d:10.1038_nature21003. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.