The time for discovering new materials has been shortened from 10 years to 1 year, and scientists have invented the method of 3D printing HTCP.

CTOnews.com, May 18 (Xinhua)-- A team of researchers at the University of Notre Dame recently invented a unique 3D printing method, high-throughput combinatorial printing (HTCP), which can discover and manufacture materials faster than traditional methods.

Zhang Yanliang, associate professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering at the university, said: "it usually takes 10 to 20 years to discover a new material, but through our 3D printing scheme, it can be shortened to a year or even months, which will change the discovery and manufacture of new materials."

HTCP mainly uses a variety of atomized nanomaterials as the "ink" of 3D printers, and the proportion of various materials in the "ink" will also change dynamically during the printing process.

Therefore, HTCP can control the 3D structure and local composition of printed materials, and produce materials with gradient components and properties with microscale spatial resolution.

Aerosol-based HTCP has a wide range of applications for a variety of metals, semiconductors and dielectrics, as well as polymers and biomaterials. It generates composite materials that act as "libraries", each containing thousands of unique works.

The research is published in Nature, and CTOnews.com attaches a link here.