Ultrafast 3D printing with submicrometer features using electrostatic jet deflection

摘要

Additive manufacturing technologies based on layer-by-layer deposition of material ejectedfrom a nozzle provide unmatched versatility but are limited in terms of printing speed andresolution. Electrohydrodynamic jetting uniquely allows generating submicrometer jets thatcan reach speeds above 1 m s?1, but such jets cannot be precisely collected by too slowmechanical stages. Here, we demonstrate that controlling the voltage applied to electrodeslocated around the jet, its trajectory can be continuously adjusted with lateral accelerationsup to 106 m s?2. Through electrostatically deflecting the jet, 3D objects with submicrometerfeatures can be printed by stacking nanofibers on top of each other at layer-by-layer frequenciesas high as 2000 Hz. The fast jet speed and large layer-by-layer frequenciesachieved translate into printing speeds up to 0.5 m s?1 in-plane and 0.4 mm s?1 in the verticaldirection, three to four orders of magnitude faster than techniques providing equivalentfeature sizes.