Organosilicon-grafted silica nanoparticles for vat photopolymerization: Evolution from organic/inorganic hybrid materials to ceramics

Three-dimensional (3D) printing ceramics based on vat photopolymerization (VPP) have attracted increasing interest in recent years because of their intrinsic properties and a wide range of potential applications. To overcome the drawbacks of traditional printing slurries, such as weak interlayer bonding and high viscosity, a series of organosilicon-grafted silica nanoparticles with a core/shell structure were prepared. These grafted nanoparticles possess small size (around 20 nm), good dispersion in photoactive diluents, and excellent photoactivity. Based on them, organic/inorganic hybrid materials with uniform microstructure and excellent mechanical performance (compressive stress 235.4 ± 33.2 MPa) were obtained by the vat photopolymerization technique. Further, oxide ceramics and carbide/oxide ceramic composites (compressive stress around 15 MPa) were prepared by calcination in air and argon, respectively. This study demonstrates the synthesis of organic/inorganic hybrid silica nanoparticles with good photoactivity, and their promising application as 3D-printable raw materials.