Light to Shape the Future: From Photolithography to 4D Printing

• Published in: Advanced optical materials Vol. 7; no. 16
• Main Authors: del Barrio, Jesús, Sánchez‐Somolinos, Carlos
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.08.2019
• Subjects: photochemical reactions; photosensitive materials; polymeric materials; structuring techniques
• ISSN: 2195-1071; 2195-1071
• DOI: 10.1002/adom.201900598

Over the last few decades, the demand of polymeric structures with well‐defined features of different size, dimension, and functionality has increased from various application areas, including microelectronics, biotechnology, tissue engineering, and photonics, among others. The ability of light to control over space and time physicochemical processes is a unique tool for the structuring of polymeric materials, opening new avenues for technological progress in different fields of application. This article gives an overview of various photochemical reactions in polymers, photosensitive materials, and structuring techniques making use of light, and highlights most recent advances, emerging opportunities, and relevant applications. Light is a key “tool” that enables the preparation of polymeric structures with features on the nano‐ and microscale. Photoinduced chemical transformations, photosensitive materials, structuring techniques that make use of light, recent applications, and future directions are summarized.