After 3D printing now comes 4D printing

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Researchers have developed a process to produce movable, self-adapting material systems in a commercially available 3-D printer. The systems can undergo complex shape changes under the influence of moisture, contracting and expanding in a pre-programmed way. There is already talk of the advent of the fourth dimension in additive printing.

www.smart2zero.com, Jul. 21, 2021 – 

In their development, the scientists from the University of Freiburg and the University of Stuttgart (both Germany) took their cue from the movement mechanisms of a twining climbing plant, the air potato (dioscorea bulbifera). Using the method, the team produced the prototype of a forearm splint that adapts to the wearer and can be further developed for medical applications.

3D printing (aka additive manufacturing) has established itself as a manufacturing process for a wide range of applications. It can also be used to create intelligent materials and material systems that are movable after production and change their shape independently by means of an external stimulus such as light, temperature or humidity. This so-called 4-D printing, with which a shape change triggered by a stimulus can be specified, greatly expands the application potential of the systems. Such shape changes are made possible by the chemical composition of the materials, which consist of stimuli-responsive polymers. However, the printers and starting materials used to produce such materials have so far been highly specialised, expensive custom-made products.

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