INorganic Photochemical PATTerning

Light activation finds a widely spread application to produce photochemically solid organic resins at low irradiation intensity from liquid organic precursors.

The main advantages of this process are that it can be activated locally, by focusing a light beam, remotely, and switched on/off easily, in a safe and convenient irradiation regime.

For these features, light-activated polymerization is used for patterning organic structures in fields of high technological, economic and social impact such as stereolithography and tooth restoration.

Recently we demonstrated that a similar result can be achieved by photochemical generation of an acid or a base in a suitably designed precursor solution and that this approach can be easily extended to inorganic materials such as insoluble carbonates and phosphates.

On the basis of these results, our project INorganic photochemical PATTerning (INPATT), hence the photochemically-controlled production of a solid inorganic matrix instead of an organic resin will offer a solution to the market for the problem of patterning inorganic materials with light.

The ambitious objective of INPATT is to provide new liquid formulations suitable for applications in stereolithography, patterning, and tooth and art restoration.