Additive manufacture of hierarchically porous materials with high resolution

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12420472-B2
Application number	US-201916362450-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 22, 2019
Priority date	Mar 22, 2019
Publication date	Sep 23, 2025
Grant date	Sep 23, 2025

Abstract

In one embodiment, an ink includes a polymer precursor, a copolymer, a catalyst, and a solvent. In another embodiment, a product includes a three-dimensional printed structure having ligaments, where an average diameter of the ligaments is in a range of about 10 microns to about 500 microns.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An ink, comprising:
a polymer precursor, wherein the polymer precursor is a formaldehyde resin;
a copolymer, wherein a ratio by weight of the polymer precursor to the copolymer is in a range from about 1:1 to about 1:11;
a catalyst; and
a solvent,
wherein the ink is physically characterized as being extrudable into self-supporting ligaments.

2. The ink as recited in claim 1 , further comprising a precursor of a ceramic component.

3. The ink as recited in claim 2 , comprising an additional component, wherein the additional component is selected from the group consisting of: silicon oxide, titanium oxide, and nickel oxide.

4. The ink as recited in claim 2 , wherein the precursor of the ceramic component is tetraethoxyl silane (TEOS).

5. The ink as recited in claim 1 , wherein the formaldehyde resin is selected from the group consisting of: phenol formaldehyde resin, urea formaldehyde resin, resorcinol formaldehyde, and melamine formaldehyde resin.

6. The ink as recited in claim 1 , wherein the copolymer is at least one copolymer selected from the group consisting of: a triblock copolymer and a non-block copolymer.

7. The ink as recited in claim 1 , wherein the catalyst is an acid catalyst.

8. The ink as recited in claim 1 , wherein the catalyst is a base catalyst.

9. The ink as recited in claim 1 , wherein a concentration of the catalyst is in a range of about 1 weight % to about 2 weight % of a total weight of the ink.

10. The ink as recited in claim 1 , wherein the polymer precursor is different than the copolymer.

11. The ink as recited in claim 1 , wherein the ink is physically characterized as being formable into a gel when the ink is immersed in a second solvent.

12. The ink as recited in claim 1 , wherein the ink is substantially free of particles.

13. The ink as recited in claim 1 , wherein the ink is physically characterized as being formable into a gel having a bicontinuous structure including a continuous water-rich phase and a resol-rich phase upon the ink being immersed in a second solvent.

14. The ink as recited in claim 2 , wherein a ratio of the ceramic component to the polymer precursor is about 1:1.

15. The ink as recited in claim 1 , wherein the solvent includes water.

16. The ink as recited in claim 15 , wherein the solvent includes an organic co-solvent.

17. The ink as recited in claim 16 , wherein the organic co-solvent is selected from the group consisting of: ethanol, methanol, and isopropanol.

18. A method for forming a three dimensional structure using the ink as recited in claim 1 , the method comprising:
printing a three-dimensional structure using the ink;
immersing the printed three-dimensional structure in a second solvent for forming a gel; and
drying the printed three-dimensional structure.

Assignees

• L Livermore Nat Security Llc

Inventors

• Liang Siwei
• Baumann Theodore F
• Duoss Eric B
• Spadaccini Christopher M
• Worsley Marcus A
• Zhu Cheng

Classifications

• C08L61/02

  Condensation polymers of aldehydes or ketones only · CPC title

• B33Y70/10

  Composites of different types of material, e.g. mixtures of ceramics and polymers or mixtures of metals and biomaterials · CPC title

• C08L53/00

  Compositions of block copolymers containing at least one sequence of a polymer obtained by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds; Compositions of derivatives of such polymers · CPC title

• C08K3/22

  of metals · CPC title

• B33Y10/00

  Processes of additive manufacturing · CPC title