Direct Sound Printing
Photo- and thermo-activated reactions are dominant in Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes for polymerization or melting/deposition of polymers. However, ultrasound activated sonochemical reactions present a unique way to generate hotspots in cavitation bubbles with extraordinary high temperature and pressure along with high heating and cooling rates which are out of reach for the current AM technologies. Here, we demonstrate 3D printing of structures using acoustic cavitation produced directly by focused ultrasound which creates sonochemical reactions in highly localized cavitation regions.
Source:
Habibi, M., Foroughi, S., et al. Direct sound printing. Nature Communications 13, 1800 (2022). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-29395-1