| Abstract Scope |
Electrochemical additive manufacturing is an emerging approach to fabricate metallic structures with micro- and nanoscale dimensions. The key principle of this technology is the reduction of metal ions on a substrate. This principle, combined with state-of-the-art nanoelectrochemical techniques, can be taken into a three-dimensional realm, to produce complex structures. The fundamental challenge, however, is improving this technique’s resolution, which is limited by a poor confinement of the deposition due to fast mass-transport (e.g. diffusion) of precursor ions. Here, we present a new electrochemical additive manufacturing technique that tackles this challenge by chemical focusing: the excess ions are being chemically trapped by a scavenger, thus allowing a nanoscale confinement required for high-resolution manufacturing. This improved process, when implemented with a pressure-driven flow through nanoscale nozzles for precursor delivery and realized in a layer-by-layer deposition, allows fabrication of features with nanoscale dimensions, improved surface morphology and almost unlimited design freedom. |