Three-Dimensional Printing of Compositionally Tunable and Hybrid Microarchitectures by Laser Nanoparticle Powder-Bed Fusion

This grant supports research aimed at advancing manufacturing processes by contributing new knowledge, promoting scientific progress, and enhancing national prosperity. Additive manufacturing, commonly known as three-dimensional printing or 3D printing, involves creating three-dimensional objects from digital models, presenting a significant leap forward from traditional manufacturing techniques.

Although various additive manufacturing processes exist, most focus on macro-scale structural parts with little or no functionalities due to the limited control over designing compositions and interfaces among multiple materials at the micron and nanoscale. This award funds fundamental research to develop laser nanoparticle powder-bed fusion, an additive nanomanufacturing process, enabling layer-by-layer fabrication of micro- and nano-scale functional structures and devices with tunable chemical compositions, interface interactions, and physical architectures.

Such micro and nanoscale architectures have increasing applications in energy, healthcare, biomedical, and aerospace industries. Therefore, the outcomes of this research benefit the U.S. economy and society. The project spans multiple disciplines, including manufacturing, materials science, and device engineering, and fosters broader participation of women and underrepresented minority groups in research and positively impacts engineering education.

The fundamental science developed in this research significantly enhances the understanding of nanoparticle-based additive nanomanufacturing for 3D printing of advanced materials, nanocomposites, and heterostructures at the micro- and nanoscales, layer-by-layer. This research develops a process in which metastable nanoparticles formed by condensation of pulsed laser-ablated plumes serve as tunable nanoscale precursors for laser-based nanoparticle powder-bed fusion and elucidates the role of non-equilibrium processes in printing 3D materials and structures by design.

Specifically, this research investigates the non-equilibrium laser synthesis of homogeneous and heterogeneous metastable nanoparticle assemblies that can serve as nanopowder coatings for 3D printing compositionally tunable microstructures from nanoscale building blocks. The research further explores the interface interactions as well as the laser sintering process of the nanoparticle assemblies at different energy and time scales to understand their sintering, phase evolution, intermixing, and alloying mechanisms.

Additionally, the project examines the structural and morphological evolution of the 3D printed nanocomposites and heterostructures, elucidating their process-structure-property relationships.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.