Roll-to-roll, high-resolution 3D printing of shape-specific particles

Particle fabrication has attracted recent attention due to its diverse
applications in bioengineering, drug and vaccine delivery, microfluidics,
granular systems, self-assembly, microelectronics, and abrasives. Herein
we introduce a scalable, high-resolution, 3D printing technique for the
fabrication of shape-specific particles based on roll-to-roll continuous
liquid interface production (r2rCLIP). We demonstrate r2rCLIP using
single-digit, micron-resolution optics in combination with a continuous
roll of film (in lieu of a static platform), enabling the rapidly
permutable fabrication and harvesting of shape-specific particles from a
variety of materials and complex geometries, including geometries not
possible to achieve with advanced mould-based techniques. We demonstrate
r2rCLIP production of mouldable and non-mouldable shapes with voxel sizes
as small as 2.0 × 2.0 μm2 in the print plane and 1.1 ± 0.3 μm unsupported
thickness, at speeds of up to 1,000,000 particles per day. Such
microscopic particles with permutable, intricate designs enable direct
integration within biomedical, analytical and advanced materials
applications.