Additive Manufacturing of Quantum Dot Nano-Inks

In this work, we describe our approach for characterizing a nanocomposite material to judge its suitability for 3D printing. We have successfully synthesized CdSe quantum dots (QDs) and introduced them (in liquid and in solid form) into photopolymer printing media. Suspensions prepared with addition of QDs in a solvent-based solution showed a decrease in viscosity with an increase in the volume of QDs added. When solid QDs were used, the viscosity of the resulting nanosuspensions remained similar to the pure photopolymer. Moreover, we have demonstrated feasibility of "printing" the suspension by manually curing the photopolymer with UV light. Our results demonstrate that the cure depth of the resulting samples does not depend on the loading of the QDs at the low concentrations tested. We have also studied the stability of these nanosuspensions over time by evaluating their physical properties such as surface tension, viscosity, and cure depth.