Pick and place process for uniform shrinking of 3D printed micro- and nano-architected materials

Tomohiro Mori (), Hao Wang (), Wang Zhang, Chern Chia Ser, Deepshikha Arora, Cheng-Feng Pan, Hao Li, Jiabin Niu, M. A. Rahman, Takeshi Mori, Hideyuki Koishi and Joel K. W. Yang ()
Additional contact information
Tomohiro Mori: Singapore University of Technology and Design
Hao Wang: Singapore University of Technology and Design
Wang Zhang: Singapore University of Technology and Design
Chern Chia Ser: Singapore University of Technology and Design
Deepshikha Arora: Singapore University of Technology and Design
Cheng-Feng Pan: Singapore University of Technology and Design
Hao Li: Singapore University of Technology and Design
Jiabin Niu: Singapore University of Technology and Design
M. A. Rahman: Singapore University of Technology and Design
Takeshi Mori: Industrial Technology Center of Wakayama Prefecture
Hideyuki Koishi: Industrial Technology Center of Wakayama Prefecture
Joel K. W. Yang: Singapore University of Technology and Design

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Two-photon polymerization lithography is promising for producing three-dimensional structures with user-defined micro- and nanoscale features. Additionally, shrinkage by thermolysis can readily shorten the lattice constant of three-dimensional photonic crystals and enhance their resolution and mechanical properties; however, this technique suffers from non-uniform shrinkage owing to substrate pinning during heating. Here, we develop a simple method using poly(vinyl alcohol)-assisted uniform shrinking of three-dimensional printed structures. Microscopic three-dimensional printed objects are picked and placed onto a receiving substrate, followed by heating to induce shrinkage. We show the successful uniform heat-shrinking of three-dimensional prints with various shapes and sizes, without sacrificial support structures, and observe that the surface properties of the receiving substrate are important factors for uniform shrinking. Moreover, we print a three-dimensional mascot model that is then uniformly shrunk, producing vivid colors from colorless woodpile photonic crystals. The proposed method has significant potential for application in mechanics, optics, and photonics.

Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-41535-9 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-41535-9

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41535-9

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().