When it comes to 3D printing, the sky is the limit. As 3D printing technology continues to advance, applications can be as far reaching as airplane and automobile parts to medical devices and even anatomically correct, biocompatible models. Although 3D printing technology is developing at a rapid pace, the technology itself is not new. It emerged in the 1980s as a means of creating rapid prototypes. In recent years the applications for 3D printed models have evolved with the available hardware, software, and printable materials. Evolving technology, paired with the creative and innovative minds of scientists, engineers, and physicians, has been the launching pad for developments within 3D printing technology specific to healthcare. One way 3D printing technology is poised to create better patient outcomes is in creating an anatomically and patient-specific models to aid in surgery and medical procedures. With the capability to 3D ...
How to permanently etch patterns into polymer surfaces has been known for a while, but now engineers at Duke University have figured out for the first time how to add and remove patterns from large and curved areas of soft plastics and polymers, according to a press release from the university.
Reported in a journal article, the new process is called dynamic electrostatic lithography. “By changing the voltage applied to the polymer, we can alter the surface from bumpy to smooth and back again,” explained by the team leader and an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Duke, in a statement.
More specifically, a variety of patterns, including dots, segments, lines, and circles, can be made within milliseconds at sizes from millimeter to submicrometer, said Qiming Wang, a student in Zhao’s laboratory and the first author of the journal article, in a statement.
Theoretically, they could make rubber gloves with fingerprints that could be changed on demand. (Think more like grips on climbing gloves, but don’t rule out the spy possibilities.) Changing surface patterns could also be useful for microfluidic and camouflage technologies.So when would one need a reversible pattern? The researchers described potential applications of their method, such as creating surfaces that are self-cleaning and water-repellent, or even as platforms for controlled-release drug-eluting devices.
Zhao’s team developed the process after learning about how insulation on wires creates creases & craters and can fail after repeated exposure to voltage.
Siegfried Bauer, soft matter physics chair at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria, praised the work in a statement:
This is beautiful basic research with a huge potential for applications, a new technology platform is developed that allows the generation of dynamical patterns on large areas simply by the application of electrical voltages.
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