Tuning Crosslinking of Hybrid Preceramic Polymers in Vat Photopolymerization Toward Controlled Ceramic Yields

Abstract

Control of preceramic polymer crosslinking for UV-curable processing is essential for fine 3D printing with high ceramic conversion for sustainable polymer-derived ceramics (PDC) engineering. While various factors influencing ceramic yield have been studied, the systematic exploration of the relationship between crosslinking and ceramic yield, especially when crosslinking increases volatile elements, remains open for further investigation. This addresses this gap by utilizing vat photopolymerization (VP) additive manufacturing (AM) as a versatile platform for controlling preceramic crosslinking and ceramic yield. By rationally designing and tuning the photochemical crosslinking through digital light processing (DLP), it is shown that the ceramic yield can be enhanced from 64% to over 86%, even with added volatile elements. The post-pyrolysis ceramic yield can be closely correlated with the pre-pyrolysis crosslinking of the preceramic network represented by its stiffness, which suggests a fast, energy-efficient, non-destructive methodology to predict and improve ceramic yield.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.