Silicone 3D printing

Silicone is a material with desirable material properties like biocompatibility and thermal stability, making it useful for medical and dental applications, as well as in electronics and soft robotics.

This material is notoriously difficult to print, but during the late 2010s, a handful of companies developed novel hardware for processing silicone using technologies like photopolymerization and droplet deposition.

The silicone printing process is complex, since parts must be cured, vulcanized, or catalyzed and then must be subjected to further post-curing to strengthen the part and remove impurities.