(384d) Two-Color Photoinitiation / Photoinhibition for Continuous Stereolithographic Additive Manufacturing

Continuous stereolithographic additive manufacturing allows high print speed and eliminate directionally-dependent material properties present in traditional layer-by-layer approaches. Current approaches allow continuous printing by eliminating adhesion to the print window during printing (which necessitates separation and recoating steps) by inhibiting polymerization in a thin region, or "dead zone", using oxygen inhibition.

Another method to enable continuous 3D printing is to use a two-color polymerization system where one wavelength initiates polymerization and a secondary orthogonal wavelength inhibits polymerization. This approach enables increased control over the dead zone and allows additional functionality over what is possible with the conventional oxygen-inhibited.

The theoretical and practical aspects of this approach are presented along with the promise and challenges of this novel continuous additive manufacturing approach.