A digital light processing 3D printing approach for tuning the interfacial properties of pore forming agents for porous ceramics

The utilization of pore forming agents (PFAs) in digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing to manufacture porous ceramics through their thermal decomposition has received a great deal of attention. Nevertheless, even though the inner PFA microstructure of a green body is an essential precondition for tailoring the properties of porous ceramics, the approaches established to date have only focused on post-processing. To address this gap, the present study demonstrates a novel DLP approach to elucidate how PFAs are formed in green bodies during DLP 3D printing. Specifically, complex UV light scattering patterns that are common in composite DLP 3D printing and often detrimental were exploited to modify the interface between PFA and the ceramic-polymer matrix. This was done through modulation of the size difference between ceramics and PFAs as well as the DLP's process parameters. Additionally, a method for inferring the interfacial properties of PFAs embedded in a green body through surface characterization is proposed.