Dual-cure method and system for fabrication of 3D polymeric structures cross-reference to earlier applications

A dual-cure method for forming a solid polymeric structure, comprising:

• combining (i) an end-capped, imide-terminated prepolymer with (ii) at least one photopolymerizable olefinic monomer, (iii) at least one photoinitiator, and (iv) a diamine, to form a curable resin composition;
• (b) irradiating the resin composition under conditions effective to polymerize the at least one olefinic monomer and provide a polyolefin within a scaffold that comprises the prepolymer and the polyolefin with the diamine physically trapped therein;
• and
• (c) thermally treating the irradiated composition at a temperature effective to cause a transimidization reaction to occur between the prepolymer and the diamine, thereby releasing the end caps of the prepolymer and providing the solid polymeric structure,
• the prepolymer has the structure of Formula (I)
• wherein:
• Ar is aryl;
• R1 and R3 may be the same or different and are non-oligomeric linking groups;
• q and r may be the same or different and are zero or 1;
• and R2 and R4 are imide end-capping groups that can be removed in a transimidization reaction, wherein L comprises a poly(ethylene oxide) chain or a polyethylene chain.