Fabrication of Lightweight 3D Complex Shapes of Cellular Carbonaceous Materials using Origami

We present initial results for the fabrication of lightweight 3D complex shapes of carbonaceous materials using origami technique. 3D complex shapes of carbon materials are fabricated by automated pre-creasing and folding of a flat piece of paper followed by heat treatment in inert atmosphere. The paper origami structure is infiltrated with proper metal precursor before heat treatment in order to fabricate carbide origami shapes. The carbon and carbide origami shape feature low density and exhibits a scaling of elastic modulus with its density, which compares advantageously to other low-density materials. The ongoing work is to improve the mechanical properties of the origami shapes by exploiting the microstructure of the carbonaceous material, optimizing the synthesis process and using different folding geometry of the origami shapes.