Episode 10: 3D-printed nanofibrous ceramics enables better structural control than electrospinning

In this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin’s Sophia Chen interviews Matt Dickerson of the Air Force Research Laboratory about his research group’s development of 3D print nanofibrous ceramics. By blending together block copolymers and pre-ceramic polymers, then burning away the block polymer, the pre-ceramic material transforms into ceramic. Dickerson believes this technique will make large-scale ceramic components easier to make. This work was published in a recent issue of npj Advanced Manufacturing.

Transcript

SOPHIA CHEN: Welcome to MRS Bulletin’s Materials News Podcast, providing breakthrough news & interviews with researchers on hot topics in materials research. My name is Sophia Chen. Think of your coffee mug. It’s made of a conventional ceramic material, which means it’s hard, lightweight, and resistant to heat and corrosion. These, among other properties, are why Matt Dickerson of the Air Force Research Laboratory is interested in ceramics for aerospace applications. But your coffee mug is brittle. Drop it and it easily shatters. To create non-brittle ceramics, one approach has been to engineer the material’s structure on the nanometer scale.

MATT DICKERSON: You can get ceramics that bend and go back to the original shape with no damage, or you can get materials with near theoretical strength.

SOPHIA CHEN: These ceramics are made of nanometer-scale fibers, so they’re known as nanofibrous ceramics. However, it’s really difficult to actually manufacture these nanofibrous ceramics into useful objects.

MATT DICKERSON: The instruments they use to make those materials aren't particularly great at making large scale components.

SOPHIA CHEN: Dickerson’s team has come up with a way to 3D print nanofibrous ceramics, which they think will make large-scale components easier to make. 

MATT DICKERSON: We're able to extrude these polymers into set shapes.

SOPHIA CHEN: Previously, the typical technique for making nano fibrous ceramics was known as electrospinning.

MATT DICKERSON: Electrospinning typically makes non aligned, non woven mats of material. So think of a big pile of spaghetti with one spaghetti noodle, and that's what you typically get with electrospinning. 

SOPHIA CHEN: In contrast, 3D printing gives them a lot more control over the shape of the components. In their study, they were able to make a ceramic spring.

MATT DICKERSON: We are able to quite easily produce these ceramic coil springs and then show that they can be cycled like 10,000 times within the paper without showing degradation of mechanical properties. 

SOPHIA CHEN: The technique involves blending two different polymers together. The first type are block copolymers, which will self-assemble into nano fibers. The second type of polymer are pre-ceramic polymers, which turn into ceramic materials when heated.

MATT DICKERSON: When you blend them together, the block copolymer will force the pre ceramic polymers to self assemble with them. 

SOPHIA CHEN: Then, they heat up the blend. The block polymer is burned away while the pre-ceramic material is turned into ceramic. In this way, they can make bigger nano fibrous ceramic components than with other methods.

MATT DICKERSON: You're able to produce large amounts of nano fibers at once. The key is in combining it with additive manufacturing.

SOPHIA CHEN: The material could be useful for substrates for catalysts, for mechanical components like the spring, or battery materials. 

MATT DICKERSON: We can think of other applications such as insulation, such as seals between high temperature components.

SOPHIA CHEN: This work was published in a recent issue of npj Advanced Manufacturing. My name is Sophia Chen from the Materials Research Society. For more news, log onto the MRS Bulletin website at mrsbulletin.org and follow us on X, @MRSBulletin. Don’t miss the next episode of MRS Bulletin Materials News – subscribe now. Thank you for listening.