Tangi Aubert

Ghent University, Belgium

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The online Meetup Nanocrystals in Additive Manufacturing took place on Tuesday 05 May 2020.

Contents

Nanocrystals with optoelectronic properties such as semiconductor quantum dots, perovskite nanocrystals and 2D materials, have been the focus of intense research for their potential in lighting and display technologies, energy conversion and storage materials, photo and electrocatalysis. For most of these applications, the implementation of nanocrystals requires some level of encapsulation and/or structuration. Besides mechanical cohesion, encapsulation of nanocrystals may also provide physico-chemical stability, such as protection from oxidation or thermal degradation. Although these colloidal nanomaterials are typically compatible with solution-processing techniques, their technological implementations have, thus far, fallen far behind expectation.

In the modern manufacturing landscape, additive manufacturing techniques such as 3D printing are gaining increasing popularity for their great versatility and potential to address specific needs in minimal response time. A large variety of techniques have been developed, including light-based techniques (stereolithography, two photon lithography), extrusion (direct ink writing, fused deposition modeling), jetting (inkjet, powder bed), offering a great deal of complementary options for the manufacturing of parts with high freedom of shape and functionality. In this context, 3D printing could critically change how we conceive fabrication of nanocrystals based architectures in functional devices.

In this online meetup we wanted to bridge the fields of nanocrystals and additive manufacturing, to identify new opportunities for the development of these technologies. Integration of nanomaterials with 3D printing can be achieved through the formulation of photo-curable nanocomposites for instance, which requires the development of specific surface chemistry for efficient cross-linking with the matrix. In parallel, the development of advanced 3D microfabrication techniques has pushed the limit of printing resolution down to the nanoscale. Through these topics, we wanted to gauge the potential role of 3D printing and additive manufacturing in the deployment of nano-enabled devices.

The talks were complemented by an ePoster session with contributions related to all concepts and techniques related to nanocrystal processing and patterning with innovative approaches for (3D) architectural control, as well as integration of nanomaterials with 3D printing and additive manufacturing in general.