Three-dimensional structures fabricated from polymers and their nanocomposites may find widespread technological applications as sensors, microvascular networks, selfhealing materials, and tissue engineering scaffolds. Theses applications either require, or could benefit from, the ability to pattern micro-sized features in complex 3D architectures. Several strategies and technologies have recently emerged to rapidly and cost-effectively fabricate thermoplastic polymer-based 3D microdevices. For example, fused deposition modeling (FDM) stands out as the most popular procedure to manufacture 3D products with a spatial resolution down to 45 μm. However, the thermal degradation caused by high processing temperatures and the high viscosity of most polymer melts may prevent the application of this technique to be compatible with nanocomposite devices, since nanoparticles can significantly increase material viscosity. Also, electrospinning has been used to produce fiber-based polymer structures with fiber diameters ranging from ～ 100 nm to ~300 μm but is limited in terms of 3D structure complexity.
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