UCLA

Additive manufacturing (AM) has been reshaping several industries and markets by providing a more cost-effective, faster, and customizable approach for fabricating complex parts compared to traditional manufacturing. Digital light processing (DLP)-based printing as one of the most popular AM processes has been extensively used in aesthetics, healthcare, & jewelry industries. Its applications are expanding other domains as well. Despite of the achievement, challenges such as materials limitation, production scaling and product functionality still need to be addressed, and more possible applications are expected to be explored. This dissertation aims to address these challenges by developing new functional materials and printing strategies based on DLP, and exploiting their potential applications in biomimetic study, soft robotics and flexible electronics.In Chapter 1, the dissertation provided an overview of various additive manufacturing technologies. The development and the challenges of 4D printing and photo-induced metal printing were discussed from the perspectives of materials and fabrication methods. Chapter 2 and 3 focused on 4D printing methods of functional hydrogel structures for biomimetic study and soft robotics. The mechanical designs of the printed structures and advances in fabricating techniques were carefully discussed. In Chapter 4 and 5, the dissertation explored novel metal patterning approaches at ambient conditions and discussed the properties of printed metals and the patterning mechanisms. Various applications of printed metallic traces, including wearable electronics, bioelectrodes for electrography and soft robotics, have been demonstrated. Chapter 6 summarized the progresses made in developing new functional materials and printing strategies based on DLP in this dissertation. A positive outlook for DLP-based printing technologies was provided.