Project aims to expand range of materials for 3D printing

Researchers at Nottingham University, led by Prof Ricky Wildman, have been awarded a £3.5m grant by EPSRC to investigate the formulation of new 3D printing materials. As part of the project, they will also establish a series of libraries listing the combinations of materials that could be used by industry in different printing techniques.

The project, one of seven EPSRC-funded research efforts investigating complex formulation processes, will attempt to expand the use of 3D printing within industry, according to Wildman.

“It is all about widening the portfolio of materials and making it easier for people to use 3D printing,” he said.

The materials available for use in 3D printing are quite limited, and are often restricted to a particular additive manufacturing technique, said Wildman. “If you want a certain material, then you have to use a particular 3D printing process,” he said.

The researchers now hope to break this link between process and materials.

The team are working with Morgan Alexander in the university’s School of Pharmacy, to apply a high-throughput biomaterials screening technology he has developed to the study of potential materials suitable for ink-jet printing.