Building block 3D printing based on molecular self-assembly monolayer with self-healing properties

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 6806
• Main Authors: Hamoudi, Hicham, Berdiyorov, Golibjon R., Zekri, Atef, Tong, Yongfeng, Mansour, Said, Esaulov, Vladimir A., Youcef-Toumi, Kamal
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 26.04.2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 3-D printers; 639/301/357; 639/301/923; 639/301/930; Fabrication; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Interfaces; Metal ions; multidisciplinary; Physics; Printing; Printing, Three-Dimensional; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Self-assembly
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-10875-9

The spontaneous formation of biological substances, such as human organs, are governed by different stimuli driven by complex 3D self-organization protocols at the molecular level. The fundamentals of such molecular self-assembly processes are critical for fabrication of advanced technological components in nature. We propose and experimentally demonstrate a promising 3D printing method with self-healing property based on molecular self-assembly-monolayer principles, which is conceptually different than the existing 3D printing protocols. The proposed molecular building-block approach uses metal ion-mediated continuous self-assembly of organic molecular at liquid–liquid interfaces to create 2D and 3D structures. Using this technique, we directly printed nanosheets and 3D rods using dithiol molecules as building block units.