New technique speeds up 3D printing significantly

Nature : One of the common methods of 3D printing shines UV light into the bottom of a container of liquid resin, which causes the resin at the very bottom of the basin to solidify. The solid part must then be pulled up to allow new liquid resin to flow in underneath, and the process is repeated. Because of the need to pause after the creation of each layer, the process can take hours to days, depending on the size of the object being printed. Now, Joseph DeSimone of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his colleagues have developed a new printer that can produce objects in just minutes. They made a reservoir for the liquid resin that has a bottom permeable to oxygen. The oxygen keeps the resin at the bottom from solidifying, resulting in a micron-thick layer of resin that remains liquid beneath the printed object. That allows the object to be printed continuously, with no delays as it is pulled upward. The technique also allows for 3D printing using rubbery materials that did not work in previous machines.