State-of-the-Art and Future Challenges of UV Curable Polymer-Based Smart Materials for Printing Technologies

The one-step printing of fully functional electronic devices is one of the main goals of additive manufacturing. In general, this approach is increasingly growing, being one of the key developments additive manufacturing processes based on ultraviolet curing. The main reasons for this increasing interest in UV curing based technologies are its advantages, such as fast curing at room temperature, space and energy efficiency, high-resolution patterns, and solvent-free formulations. Despite the important developments, some challenges remain with respect to improving UV curing process and, in particular, to obtain smart UV curable materials, many times based on the inclusion of specific nanoparticles in a UV curable polymer matrix. Thus, this paper reviews the recent developments in UV curable smart materials for printing technologies focusing on both materials and processes. The curing mechanisms and the main materials used in UV photocurable resins are reviewed as well as the main smart and multifunctional materials obtained based on them. Finally, a summary of the main achievement and the future needs are indicated. This review represents therefore a landmark for the development of a new generation of UV curable smart and multifunctional materials and solutions.