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US 2022/0176639 A1Published application
Methods and systems of three dimensional printing
AssigneeUniversity of Florida Research Foundation, Inc.
InventorsYong Huang, Yifei Jin, Ashley M. Compaan, Wenxuan Chai, Chengcheng Liu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide for three dimensional printing apparatuses, methods of three dimensional printing, and the like.
Claims20
A composition comprising:
- a precursor build material comprising a hydrogel precursor and a support material comprising a nanoclay, wherein the precursor build material has a gel-like state when a stress applied to the precursor build material is less than a yield stress, wherein the precursor build material has a free-flow state when the stress applied to the precursor build material is above the yield stress, and wherein when the stress applied to the precursor build material changes from above the yield stress to below the yield stress, the precursor build material returns to the gel-like state and is self-supporting.
A three-dimensional printing system, comprising:
- a precursor build material comprising a hydrogel precursor and a support material comprising a nanoclay;
- and
- a printing device for delivering one or more volumes of the precursor build material into one or more voxels without a support bath, wherein as the one or more volumes of the precursor build material is delivered into the one or more voxels, the support material supports the hydrogel precursor to form a liquid three dimensional structure,
- wherein prior to delivering the one or more volumes of the precursor build material to respective voxels of the one or more voxels, the support material is in a gel-like state, wherein the printing device is configured to apply a stress to the support material during delivery of the one or more volumes of the precursor build material into the one or more voxels that is above the yield stress of the support material so that the one or more volumes of the support material converts into a free-flow state during delivery, wherein after each respective volume of the precursor build material is printed into each respective voxel, the support material in the free-flow state transforms back to the gel-like state to support the liquid three dimensional structure once the stress applied to the support material is below the yield stress.
1 more element
A method comprising:
- providing a precursor build material comprising a hydrogel precursor and a support material comprising a nanoclay;
- and
- printing one or more volumes of the precursor build material into one or more respective voxels without a support bath, wherein prior to printing the one or more volumes of the precursor build material into the respective voxels, the support material is in a gel-like state, wherein the printing applies stress to the support material that is above a yield stress of the support material so that upon printing the one or more volumes of the precursor build material into the one or more voxels, the support material converts into a free-flow state, and wherein the support material in the free-flow state transforms back to the gel-like state to support the hydrogel precursor when the applied stress is decreased to below the yield stress to form a liquid three-dimensional structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.