Searching for the best 3D-printing materials

TU Wien is conducting research into high-precision 3D printing technology. Now, a new method is enabling researchers to look for suitable materials with greater precision than ever. How is it possible to build a model of St Stephen's Cathedral the size of a dust particle' Well, using TU Wien's modern 3D-printing technology, this is no longer a problem. Unimaginably fine structures in orders of magnitude well below a micrometer can now be created using their 3D printer. However, this process requires what are known as 'initiator molecules', which have very specific physical properties. Using a new analysis method, developed at the Institute of Applied Physics at TU Wien, it is now possible to examine these molecules more closely and more quickly than was previously possible and thus identify which materials allow the technology to function best. Details of this technology were recently published in the physics journal 'Applied Physics Letters'.