New 3D printer shapes objects with rays of light

Science Daily  January 31, 2019
A team of researchers in the US (UC Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) has developed printer called “replicator” that relies on a resin composed of liquid polymers mixed with photosensitive molecules and dissolved oxygen. Light activates the photosensitive compound which depletes the oxygen. Only in those 3D regions where all the oxygen has been used up do the polymers form the “cross-links” that transform the resin from a liquid to a solid. Unused resin can be recycled by heating it in an oxygen atmosphere. A lot of the underlying theory behind the printer can be translated from the theory that underlies computed tomography. The technique generates almost no material waste and the uncured material is 100 percent reusable. They have made objects up to four inches in diameter…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE 

UC Berkeley researchers used new 3D printing technology to create a model of Rodin’s ‘The Thinker.’ Credit: UC Berkeley photo by Stephen McNally