A Heating-Assisted Direct Ink Writing Method for Preparation of PDMS Cellular Structure with High Manufacturing Fidelity.

In response to the fact that most of the current research on silicone 3D printing suffers from structure collapse and dimensional mismatch, this paper proposes a heating-assisted direct writing printing method for commercial silicone rubber materials for preparing silicone foam with enhanced fidelity. In the experimental processes, the effects of substrate temperature, printing pressure, and printing speed on the filament width were investigated using a controlled variable method. The results showed the following: (1) the diameter of silicone rubber filaments was positively correlated with the printing pressure and substrate temperature, but negatively correlated with the printing speed; (2) the filament collapse of the large filament spaced foams was significantly improved by the addition of the thermal field, which, in turn, improved the mechanical properties and manufacturing stability of the silicon foams.

3D-Printed Graphene/Polydimethylsiloxane Composites for Stretchable and Strain-Insensitive Temperature Sensors.

Materials possessing exceptional temperature sensitivity and high stretchability are of importance for real-time temperature monitoring on three-dimensional components with complex geometries, when operating under various external deformation modes. Herein, we develop a stretchable temperature sensor consisting of cellular graphene/polydimethylsiloxane composite. The first of its kind, graphene-based polymer composites with desired microstructures are produced through a direct 3D ink-writing technique.