3D materials

Researchers at the University of Leeds, in collaboration with Edinburgh University, have 3D printed soft synthetic surfaces with the same texture as a human tongue. Made of silicone, they could mimic the topology, elasticity and wettability of this complex organ.…

Material scientists from the University of California San Diego have developed liquid crystal material that can shift its form. Researchers demonstrated that by controlling the printing temperature of liquid crystal elastomer, or LCE, it is possible to control the material’s degree…

There is a lot going on with 3D printing materials! Recently, a team of researchers has succeeded in 3D printing with silica aerogel, the most insulating material of all. Known for being rather brittle, this material is often reinforced with…

A team of researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) has developed a material that can be 3D printed into any shape and pre-programmed with reversible shape memory. In other words, once a…

The US Army keeps exploring the wide range of possibilities provided by additive manufacturing technologies. Recently, the Army allocated $11 million in total for the research and development of new high-performance polymer materials. Who will be conducting the research? The…

A few days ago, the American manufacturer RIZE unveiled a new glass fiber reinforced filament compatible with its full-color printing solutions. This is a first for the company, which aims to offer its customers more applications, relying on the rigidity…

HIPS (High Impact Polystyrene) is a thermoplastic polymer based on a mixture of polystyrene and polybutadiene rubber. Many popular materials in 3D printing are particularly characterized by their resistance to chemical solvents. However, in the case of HIPS, the solubility…

The ASA (Acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate) material is an amorphous thermoplastic similar to ABS, although the main difference is that it is an acrylic elastomer and ABS is a butadiene elastomer. ASA is a petroleum derivative and is considered an engineering…

As 3D printing is becoming more and more wide spread, various FDM machines are being produced to accomodate the needs of manufacturers and customers. For these machines there are the “standard” plastics such as pure ABS, PLA and PET.  However, there are…

Following our introduction of the different 3D printing technologies, today we will be talking about the metals used in 3D printing. To begin, it is important to note that metals are widely used in the aeronautics, automotive and bio-medical industry…

In recent years, the use of high-performance thermoplastics has become increasingly important in the 3D printing industry, as the technology moves away from rapid prototyping to the production of finished parts. As a result, the requirements for 3D printing materials…

Widely used in different industries, latex is the most flexible material known so far. It has a natural origin and is composed of long polymer chains rolled into water-dispersed nanoparticles. Although, in general, latex is very well known, little has…