3D Printing of Thiol‐Yne Photoresins through Visible Light Photoredox Catalysis

Abstract

In this work, we report a visible light active thiol-yne photoresin formulation that is printable with digital light processing (DLP) 3D printer under irradiation of blue-light (λ max = 470 nm). The resulting objects have the Z axis resolution of 250 μm (layer thickness) and building speed of (5 mm/h). Uniquely, our thiolyne photoresin contains photoredox catalysts Eosin Y and fac-Ir(ppy) 3 , which initiate the photopolymerization through a photoredox mechanism. The optimized dual catalysts EY/fac-Ir(ppy) 3 system not only facilitate the faster thiol-yne reaction but also potentially enables wider visible light wavelength coverage for 3D printing process. This work illustrates the possibility of replacing traditional photoinitiator with photoredox catalysts in the visible light range, thus, enriching the photoresin formulations for polymer-based 3D printing industry.

Recent developments in visible light induced polymerization towards its application to nanopores

“…[53][54][55] The combination of visible light induced, free radical polymerization with 3D printing is a rapidly growing research area. 41,56,57 For example, Laleve `e and colleagues 58 used ketone derivatives for a free radical polymerization under 405 nm light and demonstrated 3D printing. Breloy et al 46 used methacrylated quinizarin derivatives to achieve complex 3D biosourced structures under 405 nm light irradiation for 3D-photoprinting technology.…”

Additive and Lithographic Manufacturing of Biomedical Scaffold Structures Using a Versatile Thiol-Ene Photocurable Resin

“…One strategy for formulating photocurable resins involves the exploitation of thiol-ene/yne chemistry, which has already gained substantial attention for biomedical applications [ 8 ] and for vat polymerisation of degradable polymers [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. An already used class of monomers for AMTs and TE scaffolds are vinyl esters (VE) since they show suitable potential for biomedical applications due to their favourable cytotoxicity profile [ 14 ].…”