3D printing has the potential to revolutionise manufacturing of polymeric materials. However, while a range of materials are available, the vast majority are brittle and/or rigid materials (such as acrylics or epoxys) and do not display suitable mechanical properties to be applied more widely. Elastomers (or rubbers) are vital to broad ranging industries from transportation to healthcare, as a result of their ability to be deformed and return to their original shape upon removal of stress. In STEREOM3D, we proposed that readily accessible, 3D printable elastomeric materials would enable new opportunities to leverage the advantageous properties of elastomers into innovative personalised medical advances and products, among other application areas.
In STEREOM3D, we aimed to develop the first 3-dimensional (3D) printed elastomers with material properties that are governed by stereochemical composition. We achieved this in two ways, (i) by leveraging double bond stereochemistry, in combination with oligomer molecular weight, to control the properties of otherwise chemically identical materials and (ii) develop a full bio-based 3D printable material that would leverage this affect but also enhance the sustainability of 3D printable resins. Control over the stereochemistry uniquely allows us to finely adjust the mechanical properties of the materials independently of other bulk properties since the material composition will be largely consistent (except for stereochemistry) among different samples. These advances have allowed us to make critical advances in photopolymer resin design that (i) allow high levels of sustainable content to be included in resins to produce soft, elastomeric materials and (ii) prove that stereochemistry can be used to leverage materials properties in 3D printed materials. Key aspects of this work have been patented and are discussions are ongoing regarding licensing.
