Additive manufacturing (AM) and nanotechnology: promises and challenges

Purpose - This paper aims to provide a review of available published literature in which nanostructures are incorporated into AM printing media as an attempt to improve the properties of the final printed part. The purpose of this article is to summarize the research done to date, to highlight succe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Rapid prototyping journal 2013-07, Vol.19 (5), p.353-364
Main Authors: Ivanova, Olga, Williams, Christopher, Campbell, Thomas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Additive manufacturing
Additives
Carbon
Catalysis
Electrodes
Fuel cells
Fused deposition modeling
Gold
Graphene
Instrumentation
Laser sintering
Literature reviews
Lithography
Mechanical properties
Media
Methods
Nanocomposites
Nanomaterials
Nanoparticles
Nanostructure
Nanostructured materials
Nanotechnology
Printing
Process controls
Quantum dots
R&D
Rapid prototyping
Research & development
Researchers
Scanning electron microscopy
Silver
Sintering
Steel alloys
Studies
Technological change
Temperature
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Summary:Purpose - This paper aims to provide a review of available published literature in which nanostructures are incorporated into AM printing media as an attempt to improve the properties of the final printed part. The purpose of this article is to summarize the research done to date, to highlight successes in the field, and to identify opportunities that the union of AM and nanotechnology could bring to science and technology.Design methodology approach - Research in which metal, ceramic, and carbon nanomaterials have been incorporated into AM technologies such as stereolithography, laser sintering, fused filament fabrication, and three-dimensional printing is presented. The results of the addition of nanomaterials into these AM processes are reviewed.Findings - The addition of nanostructured materials into the printing media for additive manufacturing affects significantly the properties of the final parts. Challenges in the application of nanomaterials to additive manufacturing are nevertheless numerous.Research limitations implications - Each of the AM methods described in this review has its own inherent limitations when nanoparticles are applied with the respective printing media. Overcoming these design boundaries may require the development of new instrumentation for successful AM with nanomaterials.Originality value - This review shows that there are many opportunities in the marriage of AM and nanotechnology. Promising results have been published in the application of nanomaterials and AM, yet significant work remains to fully harness their inherent potential. This paper serves the purpose to researchers to explore new nanomaterials-based composites for additive manufacturing.
ISSN:1355-2546
1758-7670
DOI:10.1108/RPJ-12-2011-0127