Christopher John Tuck

University of Nottingham | Notts · Department of Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering

Laser powder bed fusion of high-strength aluminium alloys remains challenging due to the formation of hot cracks during the printing process. Hot cracking is a complex phenomenon involving a complex thermo-mechanical and metallurgical interplay. Such relationship needs to be fully understood to reap the benefits of advanced laser modulation (tempor...

We describe the synthesis and characterisation of the first of a new class of soluble ladder oligomeric thermoelectric material based on previously unutilised ethene-1,1,2,2-tetrasulfonic acid. Reaction of Ba(OH) 2 and propionic acid at a 1:1 stoichiometry leads to the formation of the previously unrecognised soluble [Ba(OH)(O 2 CEt)]⋅H 2 O. The la...

The drive toward miniaturization of enzyme-based bioelectronics established a need for three-dimensional (3D) microstructured electrodes, which are difficult to implement using conventional manufacturing processes. Additive manufacturing coupled with electroless metal plating enables the production of 3D conductive microarchitectures with high surf...

Current trends in manufacturing electronics feature digital inkjet printing as a key technology to enable the production of customised and microscale functional devices. However, electrical device performance depends on the accuracy and uniformity of the printed-track morphology, which presents significant quality challenges in current applications...

All-inorganic perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) with enhanced environmental stability are of particular interest for optoelectronic applications. Here we report on the formulation of CsPbX3 (X is Br or I) inks for inkjet deposition and utilise these NCs as photosensitive layers in graphene photodetectors, including those based on single layer graphene...

This study reports the successful fabrication of complex 3D metal nanoparticle–polymer nanocomposites using two‐photon polymerization (2PP). Three complementary strategies are detailed: in situ formation of metal nanoparticles (MeNPs) through a single‐step photoreduction process, integration of pre‐formed MeNPs into 2PP resin, and site‐selective Me...

Additive manufacturing (AM) processes are a family of net-shaped manufacturing systems that are widely being used and adopted for their distinctive characteristics. Recently, AM processes have positioned themselves to be worthy of playing a role in revolutionizing manufacturing. In general, these processes promise a range of advantages, including,...

The drive towards device miniaturisation in fields such as microfluidics or microelectronics has established a need for non-intrusive, in situ temperature sensing, which is difficult to implement and manufacture in devices. Inkjet printing is a non-contact, maskless deposition method which is compatible with a wide range of materials and may enable...

A microelectrode with a large surface area is one of the essential components in biosensors, electronic implants, and energy harvesting systems. In particular, enzymatic biofuel cells and biosensors benefit significantly from microelectrodes with a large surface area to volume ratio because of the increased enzyme loading and hence improved the pow...

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are widely exploited for their effective antimicrobial activity against a range of pathogens. Their high efficacy in this regard has seen the global demand for AgNPs in consumer products steadily increase in recent years, necessitating research into novel low environmental impact synthesis approaches. Here we present a...

Most wrought aluminium alloys of the 2000 series are difficult to manufacture by laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) due to the formation of cracks during building. To date, the effects of processing regimes on crack formation are still not well understood. In this study we performed a detailed microstructural characterisation of crack development in t...

Additive manufacturing (AM) has widely demonstrated its ability to economically produce parts at low volumes. Attention is now shifting to higher volume applications, such as mass customization and the manufacture of standard parts. In these contexts, production losses due to process variability and inefficient machine use are common concerns for t...

The development of conductive inks is required to enable additive manufacturing of electronic components and devices. A gold nanoparticle (AuNP) ink is of particular interest due to its high electrical conductivity, chemical stability, and biocompatibility. However, a printed AuNP film suffers from thermally induced microcracks and pores that lead...

A 3-D-printed, 0.3-THz, back-to-back, smooth-walled, horn is presented. It was made from “material” as mating symmetric halves, with internal surfaces metallized with gold plate. The junction of the back-to-back horns hosts a 1-mm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> microfluidic ape...

This July, leading researchers from the world of additive manufacturing will gather at Nottingham's Additive International Summit to share insights into the technologies that are shaping the future of the sector. Summit co-chairs - Professors Richard Hague and Chris Tuck - celebrate the welcome return of an event that is key for a sector which thri...

Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques have gained extensive attention recently as they are able to directly produce 3D parts utilising a layer-by-layer manner. Inkjet printing is one such technique which can produce micron-scale features but is generally constrained to liquid viscosities of less than 30 mPa·s, therefore available materials are lim...

Current biomimetic designs do not incorporate naturally occurring variance. Instead, the same unit cell is repeatedly copied and pasted to create a pattern. Existing stochastic designs use the same randomness for all parameters. However, nature teaches us that unit cells vary over several geometry defining parameters and that unit cells rarely over...

The Additive International Summit returns this summer for two days of exploring the latest research and technologies in the Additive Manufacturing world

The layer‐by‐layer nature of additive manufacturing is well matched to the layer construction of stacked dielectric actuators, with inkjet printing offering a unique opportunity due to its droplet‐on‐demand capability, suitable for multi‐material processing at high resolution. This paper demonstrates the use of high viscosity, multi‐material jettin...

Two-photon polymerisation (2PP) based additive manufacturing has emerged as a powerful technology to fabricate complex three-dimensional micro- and nanoscale architectures. However, a comprehensive understanding of the effect of printing parameters on the functional properties of these structures is needed to unleash the potential of 2PP and enable...

Chronic infection as a result of bacterial biofilm formation on implanted medical devices is a major global healthcare problem requiring new biocompatible, biofilm-resistant materials. Here we demonstrate how bespoke devices can be manufactured through ink-jet-based 3D printing using bacterial biofilm inhibiting formulations without the need for el...

Lattices are increasingly used in engineering applications. They can reduce weight in aircraft components, increase the efficiency of heat exchangers and are used as medical implants. Typically a regular and graded lattice, where the unit cells are iterated one after another is used. Although methods exist to create stochastic lattices, they are li...

Controlling the microstructure of materials by means of phase separation is a versatile tool for optimizing material properties. Phase separation has been exploited to fabricate intricate microstructures in many fields including cell biology, tissue engineering, optics, and electronics. The aim of this study was to use phase separation to tailor th...

Bacterial Biofilm Resistant Composite Devices Medical implants would benefit from bespoke 3D printing, however microbial infection remains a challenge. By combining functional materials, voxelated manufacturing and algorithmic design, Morgan R. Alexander, Ricky D. Wildman, and co-workers demonstrate in article number 2100249 a multi-material inkjet...

Direct ink writing – an extrusion-based additive manufacturing process – followed by pressureless sintering was investigated to produce boron carbide monoliths. The effects of ceramic powder loading and Pluronic binder concentration on the rheology of boron carbide pastes were studied and linked to both processing behaviour and final outcome in ter...

As the understanding of disease grows, so does the opportunity for personalization of therapies targeted to the needs of the individual. To bring about a step change in the personalization of medical devices it is shown that multi‐material inkjet‐based 3D printing can meet this demand by combining functional materials, voxelated manufacturing, and...

Inkjet printing of metal nanoparticles allows for design flexibility, rapid processing and enables the 3D printing of functional electronic devices through co-deposition of multiple materials. However, the performance of printed devices, especially their electrical conductivity, is lower than those made by traditional manufacturing methods and is n...

The variety of UV-curable monomers for 3D printing is limited by a requirement for rapid curing after each sweep depositing a layer. This study proposes to trigger supramolecular self-assembly during the process by a gemini imidazolium-based low-molecular-weight gelator, allowing printing of certain monomers. The as-printed hydrogel structures were...

There is an increasing need for supply chains that can rapidly respond to fluctuating demands and can provide customised products. This supply chain design requires the development of flexibility as a critical capability. To this end, firms are considering Additive Manufacturing (AM) as one strategic option that could enable such a capability. This...

Conductive hydrogel-based materials are attracting considerable interest for bioelectronic applications due to their ability to act as more compatible soft interfaces between biological and electrical systems. Despite significant advances that are being achieved in the manufacture of hy-drogels, precise control over the topographies and architectur...

In this paper, we present the development of a family of novel, UV-curable, highly flexible, 3D printable silicone-based materials, the mechanical properties of which can be tuned simply by varying the ratio of the polymerisable reagents within the formulation. This tuneability is achieved by exploiting the balance between in-cure phase separation...

Pristine graphene and graphene-based heterostructures can exhibit exceptionally high electron mobility if their surface contains few electron-scattering impurities. Mobility directly influences electrical conductivity and its dependence on the carrier density. But linking these key transport parameters remains a challenging task for both theorists...

Additive manufacturing (AM) has the potential to disrupt the ceramic industry by offering new opportunities to manufacture advanced ceramic components without the need for expensive tooling, thereby reducing production costs and lead times and increasing design freedom. Whilst the development and implementation of AM technologies in the ceramic ind...

Additive manufacturing is having a dramatic impact on research and industry across multiple sectors, but the production of additively manufactured systems for ultra-high vacuum applications has so far proved elusive and widely been considered impossible. We demonstrate the first additively manufactured vacuum chamber operating at a pressure below 1...

2D materials have unique structural and electronic properties with potential for transformative device applications. However, such devices are usually bespoke structures made by sequential deposition of exfoliated 2D layers. There is a need for scalable manufacturing techniques capable of producing high‐quality large‐area devices comprising multipl...

Inkjet printing of metal nanoparticles (MNPs) allows for design flexibility, rapid processing and enables 3D printing of functional electronic devices through co-deposition of multiple materials. However, the performance of printed devices, especially their conductivity, is lower than those made by traditional manufacturing methods and is previousl...

Metamaterials exhibit properties beyond those exhibited by conventional materials in conventional scenarios. These have been investigated both theoretically and experimentally at length. In many cases the underpinning physical understanding of metamaterials has greatly preceded our ability to manufacture constituent structures. However, the develop...

The effects of several anionic, cationic and non-ionic polyelectrolyte dispersants on the stability and rheology of aqueous boron carbide (B4C) suspensions were investigated using zeta potential measurements, settling experiments, and rheological studies. Zeta potential measurements and settling experiments were useful to narrow down the best pH ra...

p>As our understanding of disease grows, it is becoming established that treatment needs to be personalized and targeted to the needs of the individual. In this paper we show that multi-material inkjet-based 3D printing, when backed with generative design algorithms, can bring a step change in the personalization of medical devices. We take cell-in...

We demonstrate the formulation of advanced functional 3D printing inks that prevent the formation of bacterial biofilms in vivo. Starting from polymer libraries, we show that a biofilm resistant object can be 3D printed with the potential for shape and cell instructive function to be selected independently. When tested in vivo, the candidate materi...

p>Controlling the microstructure of materials by means of phase separation is a versatile tool for optimizing material properties. In this study, we show that ink jet 3D printing of polymer blends gives rise to controllable phase separation that can be used to tailor the release of drugs. We predicted phase separation using high throughput screenin...

In article number 1900187 by Clive J. Roberts, Ricky D. Wildman and co‐workers report an entirely new approach to formulating and controlling drug release from 3D printed systems/implants. This approach allows for hierarchical control over release, by exercising control over composition of a printed system over multiple length scales through molecu...

Pristine graphene and graphene-based heterostructures exhibit exceptionally high electron mobility and conductance if their surface contains few electron-scattering impurities. Here, we reveal a universal connection between graphene's carrier mobility and the variation of its electrical conductance with carrier density. Our model of graphene conduc...

The thermal conductivity of AlSi10Mg made by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), and its modification via heat treatment, has received little attention despite possible applications for heat exchangers and thermo-mechanical components. Here, we show that heat treatment can increase the thermal conductivity of LPBF AlSi10Mg to that of cast material. Our...

Material development for powder bed fusion is critical to enhance the utility of the process. Establishing process parameters for new materials limits the rate at which process performance can be appraised. Adapted laser calorimetry is a useful technique for rapid material screening. Here, multi-body feedstocks which have the potential to improve l...

A strategy for creating tuneable 3D printed drug delivery devices is proposed. 3D printing offers the opportunity for improved compliance and patient treatment outcomes through personalization, but bottlenecks include finding formulations that provide a choice of drug loading and release rate, that are tuneable, and avoid the need for surgical remo...

Ti-6Al-4V is a popular alloy due to its high strength-to-weight ratio and excellent corrosion resistance. Many applications of additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V using selective laser melting (SLM) have reached technology readiness. However, issues linked with metallurgical differences in parts manufactured by conventional processes and SLM persist....

Drop-on-demand jetting of metals offers a fully digital manufacturing approach to surpass the limitations of the current generation powder-based additive manufacturing technologies. However, research on this topic has been restricted mainly to near-net shaping of relatively low melting temperature metals. Here it is proposed a novel approach to jet...

The use of additive manufacturing (AM) for the fabrication of biomedical implants has grown in the recent years because it gives the flexibility to create patient-specific customised implants and on-demand production. AM has opened the possibility of the fabrication of implants in the clinical setting, so-called bedside manufacturing that gives the...

Aluminium-based composites reinforced with carbon nanotubes are widely sought for their outstanding metallurgical and structural properties that largely depend on the manufacturing route. In this work, the process-structure-property relationship for a composite made from high-energy-ball-milled pure Al and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) proc...

Biological structures control cell behavior via physical, chemical, electrical, and mechanical cues. Approaches that allow us to build devices that mimic these cues in a combinatorial way are lacking due to there being no suitable instructive materials and limited manufacturing procedures. This challenge is addressed by developing a new conductive...

Purpose Matching supply with demand is the primary concern of supply chain management. Uncertainty in demand, however, is detrimental to performance as it leads to cost in the form of backorders, low capacity utilisation and avoidable inventory. This paper investigates the value of adopting Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology for the performance...

Metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes, such as selective laser melting (SLM), enable the fabrication of arbitrary 3D-structures with unprecedented degrees of freedom. Research is rapidly progressing in this field, with promising results opening up a range of possible applications across both scientific and industrial sectors. Many sectors are...