Path to the Future with 4D Printing

Just imagine a world where buildings which are delivered in a flat pack form entirely self-assemble, making use of the right stimuli. Or the roads, which can self-heal their potholes, or footwear that can adapt into any sportswear like if you want to go for a run, they become your running spikes, if going out for a party, they adapt themselves into casuals. If you play basketball, they adapt themselves to support your ankles more. If you walk on grass, they automatically grow cleats. And when the surroundings are damp and inclement, they become waterproof. It’s not like the shoe would understand that you’re playing basketball, but of course, it can tell what kind of energy or what type of forces are being applied by your foot. It could transform based on pressure, moisture, or temperature change.

Amazed?

All of this is about 3D printed objects that can reshape or self-assemble over time, based on some external stimuli. And 4D printing gives access to such changes in materials. The fourth dimension described here is the transformation of materials over time, highlighting the fact that materials are no longer immobile and passive. 4-Dimensional printing is smarter than any of the existing technology as objects can be programmed to operate and transform on their own. More specifically, 4D printing offers actuation, sensing, and programmability. These materials possess all these in-built features without the use of any external devices such as wires, motors, batteries, or any other remote controllers.

4D printing delivers the possibility of designing ANY transformable shape, making use of a large variety of materials. Shape memory polymers (SMPs) and stimuli-responsive hydrogels are the most popular classes of active materials used for 4D printing due to their highly responsive shape morphing capability upon triggering. Besides these, dielectric elastomers (DEs), liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs), and metamaterials are utilized in 4D printing very recently. These methods and materials aim at the soft robotic and biomedical fields and are gaining prominent interests among the researchers.

The introduction of smart materials, soft functional materials, and other multi-material composites has resulted in drastic progress in its implementation and application in several fields.

Several efforts had been made in the past to fabricate a variety of artefacts by incorporating nanomaterials such as graphene, carbon nanotubes, and functionalized nanoparticles or biomaterials with existing 3D printing materials.

So, 4D printing is a renovation of 3D printing wherein unique materials which can change shapes post-production. Shape transforming characteristics like shrinkage, expansion, bending, or folding after printing is the main characteristic of 4D printing that can be stimulated by temperature, humidity, or solvents, as well as pH or light.

The advantages of these systems also include the reduction of assembly time, cost, manual labour, defects, space, and the number of components in an archetype or system.

4D printing is futuristic and has got an exciting pack of wonders in the future. Applications of 4D printing are in various fields, such as biomedical devices, security, fabrication of precisely patterned surfaces for optics, electronic devices, structures with multi-directional properties, and soft actuators. Consequently, many new opportunities and prospects will appear in the future because of the emergence of 4D printing technology.

It is more likely that you will one-day cross paths with 4D printing in your everyday life without even realizing it.

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