| Abstract Scope |
Over the past two decades, Direct Ink Writing (DIW) has evolved from a laboratory scale prototyping technique into a versatile manufacturing platform capable of producing architected ceramic components ranging from biomedicine and energy to extreme environments. Yet, despite the remarkable breath of applications, widespread industrial adoption remains constrained by the limited ability to rationally design formulations, predict processability, and reliably manufacture components with reproducible performance. Addressing these challenges requires a shift from application-driven demonstrations towards a more fundamental understanding of the relationship between material formulation, rheological behaviour, processing conditions, structural properties and functional performance.
In this invited talk, I will discuss recent advances in ceramic formulation design, focusing on how suspension microstructures evolve under the transient deformation conditions experienced during Direct Ink Writing. While printability is often related to bulk rheological properties, I will show how understanding the evolution of the feedstock microstructure provides additional insight into extrusion stability, shape fidelity and printing performance. This understanding enables the development of structure–process relationships that link feedstock microstructure with bulk rheological response, flow stability and print quality. These relationships provide the basis for complementary printability maps and phase diagrams linking bulk metrics of strength, flowability, recoverability and stretchability under gravity extension behaviour.
Filament breakup under gravity extension provides a sensitive probe to classify DIW feedstocks. Combined with rheo-microscopy and flow visualization, these methodologies provide new opportunities for predictive feedstock characterisation and design, and highlight that successful feedstocks require not only appropriate bulk rheological properties but also microstructures capable of undergoing extrusion and deposition without being disrupted. These fundamental findings support the development of more reliable manufacturing routes for advanced ceramic architectures and emerging functional applications, including photocatalysis. |