Review4D printing of shape memory polymer composites: A review on fabrication techniques, applications, and future perspectives
Graphical abstract
Introduction
Additive manufacturing (AM) technology is extensively adopted for the digital and smart manufacturing of different materials [1], [2], [3]. In this technology, materials are created by adding layers in three dimensions (3D) with the help of computer-aided design (CAD) [4], [5], [6]. AM also refers as 3D printing (3DP), can be employed in the manufacturing of different materials including metals, polymers, ceramics, composites, cermets, and metamaterials [7], [8], [9]. 3DP offers a wide range of advantages that includes low cost, wide design spectrum, compact size, high adaptability, and ability to form precise and complex geometries [10], [11], [12]. The large-scale manufacturing of materials through 3DP is still limited in industries due to associated slow speed and an unbalanced trade-off between the quality and size of the printed part [13], [14], [15], [16]. In addition to this, 3DP techniques generate static structures and cannot be employed for the development of the structures for dynamic applications [17], [18], [19], [20]. With persistent progress in materials science, the 3DP has also gone through significant advancement and it has been upgraded to 4D printing (4DP) [21], [22], [23]. It is a novel technology that emerged in 2013, and it is programmed to transform the shape of the printed parts into artifacts [24], [25], [26]. 4DP envisages the self-assembly of the structure in the absence of conventional driving equipment, which also helps to simplify the manufacturing process [27], [28], [29]. It is the next-generation printing process that allows the smart or programmable materials to transform their shape with time due to the response of the external stimuli [30], [31], [32]. Additionally, 4DP technology has excellent perspectives in controlling the various factors including failure rate, minimizing the assembly time, and the overall cost [33], [34], [35]. The shape morphing pattern in 4DP is driven by programmed spatially controlled anisotropies produced from 3DP techniques [36], which usually involve the common multilayer shapes with various materials components, cross-link densities, percentage of weight, and alignment of different additives and fillers [37], [38], [39]. Additionally, the idea of self-assembly is already built in 4DP techniques, for instance, both raw materials and different assembling, are fed directly into the 4DP machine [40], [41], [42]. Shape memory polymers (SMPs) are those materials that have the ability to deform their shape and then recover to their original shapes upon exposure to external stimuli [43] including heat [44], electricity [45], light [46], magnetic field [47], thermal [48], moisture [49], and chemicals [50]. Owing to the dynamic functions and stimuli-responsive behavior, these materials are extensively used for the printing of smart textile, flexible electronic equipment, self-folding packaging, automotive parts, deployable architectures, tissue constructs, drug delivery devices, and adaptive wind turbine blades applications [51], [52], [53]. Fig. 1 provides a detailed overview of 4DP technology.
Since the inception of 4DP in 2013, the impact of 4DP technology has been continuously increasing in different engineering fields and requires up-to-date knowledge about 4DP techniques and novel stimuli-responsive materials (SRMs) to instigate the readers about this latest and futuristic rapid prototyping technology. The purpose of this review is to highlight and critically analyze seminal works of 4D-printed shape memory polymer composites (SMPCs). This review also elucidates different stimuli-responsive polymer composite mechanisms as well as illustrates biomedical (stents, tissue constructs, scaffolds), textile, soft robotics, and electronics applications. This review incorporates current findings, future perspective, and challenges in the designing of SMPCs through 4DP. It is envisioned that 4D-printed intricate and dynamic structures will be translated into different engineering applications by managing demands of key regulators.
Section snippets
Fundamentals of 4D printing technology
In the contemporary era, 4DP technology has intrigued engineers, designers, and scientists, due to cutting-edge results, which will be helpful in solving different industrial issues. It is a combination of intelligent materials, 3D printing, and a well-programmed design. This technology generates a variety of metamaterial structures under changing environments [54]. This section aims to elucidate key features of 4DP technology.
4D Printing technologies
The novel and the state of art different 3D printers are mainly employed in cutting-edge AM technologies [135]. The dynamic and multi-functional products in 4DP are developed through technical approaches. The integration of time-dependent components to 3DP yields 4D-printed products. To date, there are various AM technologies have been employed and these AM technologies have layup the foundation of advanced 4DP techniques [136], [137], [138]. 4DP is usually achieved through 3DP techniques and
SMP-based novel composite materials
SMP-based composites are extensively applied to develop novel materials including multi-materials, metamaterials as well as moldless manufacturing of composites. This section further delves into the 4DP of these materials.
Applications of 4D-printed polymer composites
4DP is a futuristic and rapid prototyping technology, which has unbounded potential to be implemented in different engineering sectors including biomedicine, electronics, robotics, food, automotive, construction, and aerospace. However, its technological advancements in various engineering sectors require interdisciplinary research [339]. SMPCs possess the ability to substitute traditional polymers in different engineering sectors and Fig. 18 summarizes the important practical and potential
Market trends of 4D-printed SMPCs
The future of 4D-printed SMPCs looks promising and quite optimistic. In near future, the 4DP materials will replace the different traditional mechanical components like gears, springs, and motors with the newly developed smart materials along with the precise control on optimization for producing efficient structures [441]. This will help in designing modern engineering systems, which allow the movement of mechanical parts, and these parts will also change their shape according to the
Conclusions and future perspectives
4DP is a novel rapid prototyping technology that incorporates 3DP technology and active materials for enabling printed structures to change their shapes, properties, and functions over time. This section incorporates several challenges and future perspectives related to 4DP of SMPCs.
Although, the 4DP of SMPCs has shown immense interest in a variety of engineering sectors, there are still some obstacles to effectively utilize the 4DP in these areas. For instance, shape preprogramming in SMPs is
Funding
This work was not supported by any funding.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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First two authors contributed equally to this paper.