{image - 285 micron race car}
The high-precision 3D printer at TU Vienna is orders of magnitude faster than similar approaches. “Until now, this technique used to be quite slow,” says Professor Jürgen Stampfl from the Institute of Materials Science and Technology at the TU Vienna. “The printing speed used to be measured in millimeters per second – our device can do five meters in one second.” In two-photon lithography, this is a world record.
In contrast to conventional 3D printing techniques, solid material can be created anywhere within the liquid resin rather than on top of the previously created layer.
At the TU Vienna, scientists are now developing bio-compatible resins for medical applications. They can be used to create scaffolds to which living cells can attach themselves facilitating the systematic creation of biological tissues. The 3D printer could also be used to create tailor made construction parts for biomedical technology or nanotechnology.