Motor-free method to 3D monolayer coatings

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12564859-B2
Application number	US-202418599941-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 8, 2024
Priority date	Mar 8, 2023
Publication date	Mar 3, 2026
Grant date	Mar 3, 2026

Abstract

A method is disclosed of three-dimensional (3D) free-form printing for coating free-form objects, the method including: arranging a free-form object in a Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) trough filed with a liquid, the LB trough designed based on a shape of the free-form object; arranging an LB film comprising a plurality of colloidal nanospheres on a surface of the liquid within the LB trough; and draining the liquid from the LB trough to form a self-assemble film of the colloidal nanoparticles on a surface of the free-form object.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of three-dimensional (3D) free-form printing for coating free-form objects, the method comprising:
arranging a free-form object in a Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) trough filled with a liquid, the LB trough designed based on a shape of the free-form object; arranging an LB film comprising a plurality of colloidal particles on a surface of the liquid within the LB trough, and wherein a size of the plurality of colloidal particles includes nanoparticles and/or microparticles; and draining the liquid from the LB trough to form a self-assemble film of the colloidal particles on a surface of the free-form object through a drip below the free-form object and on a bottom of the LB trough.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
draining the LB trough through the drip, which is centered in the bottom of the LB trough.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the LB trough is a drainage basin having a radius R′(z)=r(z)+R(z), wherein r(z) is a radius of an outer surface of the free-form object to be coated and R(z) is a radial distance between the outer surface of the free-form object to be coated and an inner surface of the drainage basin, and wherein the radial distance between the outer surface of the free-form object and the inner surface of the drainage basin continuously decreases towards the bottom of the LB trough.

4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the drainage basin is designed so that a change in a surface area of the LB film is a change in a surface area of the self-assembled film, and wherein if r(z) is the radius of the object as a function of z, and wherein the surface area of the coating at z for thickness dz is a change in an area of the LB film in the drainage basin as follows:

dSA
⁡
(
z
)

dz

=

2
⁢
π
⁢

r
⁡
(
z
)

.

5 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein,
if R(z) is the inner radius of the drainage basin as a function of z, then the area of the film layer at a location z is:

A
⁡
(
z
)

=

π
[

r
⁡
(
z
)

+

R
⁡
(
z
)

]

2

-

π
[

r
⁡
(
z
)

]

2

;

the change in the surface area of the object is the derivative of:

d
[

A
⁡
(
z
)

]

dz

=

2
⁢

π
[

r
⁡
(
z
)

+

R
⁡
(
z
)

]

[

dr
dz

+

dR
dz

]

-

2
⁢
π
⁢

r
⁡
(
z
)

⁢

dr
dz

;

wherein the change in object surface area would be equal to the negative change in drainage area, wherein R′=r+R, and

-

r
⁡
(
z
)

⁢

(

1
-

dr
dz

)

=

R
′

(
z
)

⁢

dR
′

dz

;

and if one integrates both sides

-

∫

r
⁡
(

Assignees

• Univ California

Inventors

• Vuong Luat Thanh
• Weiss Sophie
• Rodriguez Frank
• Feng Ji

Classifications

• C09D7/68

  Particle size between 100-1000 nm · CPC title

• C09D5/02

  Emulsion paints {including aerosols} · CPC title

• C09D7/61

  inorganic · CPC title

• C09D7/20

  Diluents or solvents · CPC title

• B05D1/206

  LB troughs · CPC title