Hybrid epoxy–acrylate resins for wavelength-selective multimaterial 3D printing | Nature Materials

Nature Materials volume 24, pages 1116–1125 (2025)Cite this article

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Structures in nature combine hard and soft materials in precise three-dimensional (3D) arrangements, imbuing bulk properties and functionalities that remain elusive to mimic synthetically. However, the potential for biomimetic analogues to seamlessly interface hard materials with soft interfaces has driven the demand for innovative chemistries and manufacturing approaches. Here, we report a liquid resin for rapid, high-resolution digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing of multimaterial objects with an unprecedented combination of strength, elasticity and resistance to ageing. A covalently bound hybrid epoxy–acrylate monomer precludes plasticization of soft domains, while a wavelength-selective photosensitizer accelerates cationic curing of hard domains. Using dual projection for multicolour DLP 3D printing, bioinspired metamaterial structures are fabricated, including hard springs embedded in a soft cylinder to adjust compressive behaviour and a detailed knee joint featuring ‘bones’ and ‘ligaments’ for smooth motion. Finally, a proof-of-concept device demonstrates selective stretching for electronics.

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The data supporting the findings of this study are available within the Article and Supplementary Information. Raw data files in other formats are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Source data are provided with this paper.

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We acknowledge primary support from the Department of Defense under grant W911NF2210115 (J.-W.K., M.J.A., E.A.R., L.M.S., H.L.C., A.U., Z.A.P.; compositional, optical, mechanical and thermal characterization, and materials and supplies). Partial support was provided by the Robert A. Welch Foundation under grants F-2007 (J.-W.K., A.U., Z.A.P.; synthesis) and F-2210 (A.J.A., G.E.S.; digital image correlation and rheology), National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Engineering under grant 2229036 (A.G., W.E., M.A.C.; FEA and electronic device fabrication and testing), US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences through the Center for Materials for Water and Energy Systems (M-WET), an Energy Frontier Research Center under award DE-SC0019272 (M.J.A., B.D.F.; nanoindentation characterization), NSF Graduate Research Fellowship under grant DGE-1610403 (M.J.A.) and Research Corporation for Science Advancement under award 28184 (Z.A.P.). The authors thank J. Rawlins at the University of Southern Mississippi for discussions on standardized aging conditions.

These authors contributed equally: Ji-Won Kim, Marshall J. Allen.

Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

Ji-Won Kim, Marshall J. Allen, Lynn M. Stevens, Henry L. Cater, Ain Uddin & Zachariah A. Page

McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

Marshall J. Allen, Elizabeth A. Recker, Anthony J. Arrowood, Gabriel E. Sanoja, Benny D. Freeman & Zachariah A. Page

Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

Ang Gao, Wyatt Eckstrom & Michael A. Cullinan

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Conceptualization, J.-W.K., M.J.A., Z.A.P.; methodology, J.-W.K., M.J.A., E.A.R., L.M.S., H.L.C., A.U., A.G., W.E., A.J.A.; investigation, J.-W.K., M.J.A., E.A.R., L.M.S., H.L.C., A.U., A.G., W.E., A.J.A.; visualization, J.-W.K., M.J.A., E.A.R., Z.A.P.; funding acquisition, G.E.S., M.A.C., B.D.F., Z.A.P.; project administration, Z.A.P.; supervision, G.E.S., M.A.C., B.D.F., Z.A.P.; writing—original draft, J.-W.K., M.J.A., Z.A.P.; writing—review and editing, J.-W.K., M.J.A., E.A.R., L.M.S., H.L.C., A.U., A.G., W.E., A.J.A., G.E.S., M.A.C., B.D.F., Z.A.P.

Correspondence to Zachariah A. Page.

Z.A.P., M.J.A. and J.-W.K. have filed an international patent (application no. PCT/US2024/035169) related to this work. The other authors declare no competing interests.

Nature Materials thanks Thomas Wallin and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Experimental Methods, Characterization, Figs. 1–83, Tables 1–21, Schemes 1 and 2 and Videos 1–15.

Uniaxial compression of a ‘soft cylinder (no spring)’ structure at a compression rate of 10 µm min−1 until 50 N was reached. The video is played back at 30× speed. Details of the 3D structure can be found in Fig. 5a and Supplementary Fig. 62.

Uniaxial compression of a ‘concentric twisted’ structure containing a hard spring (0.9-mm diameter, 4-mm pitch) within a soft cylinder at a compression rate of 10 µm min−1 until 50 N was reached. The video is played back at 30× speed. Details of the 3D structure can be found in Fig. 5a and Supplementary Fig. 62.

Uniaxial compression of a ‘concentric twisted’ structure containing a hard spring (0.9-mm diameter, 3-mm pitch) within a soft cylinder at a compression rate of 10 µm min−1 until 50 N was reached. The video is played back at 30× speed. Details of the 3D structure can be found in Fig. 5a and Supplementary Fig. 62.

Uniaxial compression of a ‘concentric twisted’ structure containing a hard spring (0.9-mm diameter, 2-mm pitch) within a soft cylinder at a compression rate of 10 µm min−1 until 50 N was reached. The video is played back at 30× speed. Details of the 3D structure can be found in Fig. 5a and Supplementary Fig. 62.

Uniaxial compression of a ‘hard spring (no cylinder)’ structure (0.9-mm diameter, 3-mm pitch) at a compression rate of 10 µm min−1 until 0.5 N was reached. The video is played back at 30× speed. Details of the 3D structure can be found in Fig. 5a inset.

Uniaxial compression of a ‘concentric twisted’ structure containing a hard spring (0.5-mm diameter, 4-mm pitch) within a soft cylinder at a compression rate of 10 µm min−1 until 50 N was reached. The video is played back at 30× speed. Details of the 3D structure can be found in Supplementary Fig. 63.

Uniaxial compression of a ‘concentric twisted’ structure containing a hard spring (0.5-mm diameter, 3-mm pitch) within a soft cylinder at a compression rate of 10 µm min−1 until 50 N was reached. The video is played back at 30× speed. Details of the 3D structure can be found in Supplementary Fig. 63.

Uniaxial compression of a ‘concentric twisted’ structure containing a hard spring (0.5-mm diameter, 2-mm pitch) within a soft cylinder at a compression rate of 10 µm min−1 until 50 N was reached. The video is played back at 30× speed. Details of the 3D structure can be found in Supplementary Fig. 63.

Manual unidirectional bending and recovery of a ‘knee joint’ structure over four cycles followed by the removal of force. The video is played back at 2× speed. Details of 3D structure can be found in Fig. 5b and Supplementary Figs. 66 and 67.

Uniaxial stretching of a ‘brick-and-mortar’ structure at a strain rate of 10 mm min−1 until macroscopic failure. The video is played back at 2× speed. Details of the 3D structure can be found in Supplementary Figs. 68 and 69.

DIC for the ‘1,000× modulus central insert’ sample, showing the localized strain distribution under cyclic stretching to a global strain of 30% at a tensile rate of 5 mm min−1. The samples were spray-coated to facilitate DIC analysis. The video is played back at 60× speed.

DIC for the ‘100× modulus central insert’ sample, showing the localized strain distribution under cyclic stretching to a global strain of 30% at a tensile rate of 5 mm min−1. The samples were spray-coated to facilitate DIC analysis. The video is played back at 60× speed.

DIC for the ‘10× modulus central insert’ sample, showing the localized strain distribution under cyclic stretching to a global strain of 30% at a tensile rate of 5 mm min−1. The samples were spray-coated to facilitate DIC analysis. The video is played back at 60× speed.

Uniaxial stretching of a ‘multimaterial device with 1× insert’ structure bearing a white LED at a tensile rate of 5 mm min−1, with global strain reaching 30% over 10 repeated cycles. The video is played back at 60× speed. Details of the 3D structure can be found in Fig. 6d.

Uniaxial stretching of a ‘multimaterial device with 1,000× insert’ structure bearing a white LED at a tensile rate of 5 mm min−1, with global strain reaching 30% over 10 repeated cycles. The video is played back at 60× speed. Details of the 3D structure can be found in Fig. 6d of the main manuscript.

Statistical source data for Fig. 1c.

Statistical source data for Fig. 2b–d.

Statistical source data for Fig. 3b–d.

Statistical source data for Fig. 4b–d.

Statistical source data for Fig. 5a.

Statistical source data for Fig. 6b,c.

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Kim, JW., Allen, M.J., Recker, E.A. et al. Hybrid epoxy–acrylate resins for wavelength-selective multimaterial 3D printing. Nat. Mater. 24, 1116–1125 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02249-z

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Received: 08 April 2024

Accepted: 22 April 2025

Published: 30 June 2025

Issue Date: July 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02249-z

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