Three-Dimensional Printing of Hierarchical Porous Architectures

Concurrent advances in the programmable synthesis of nanostructured materials and additive three-dimensional (3D) manufacturing have created a rich and exciting opportunity space to fabricate novel materials and devices. In particular, creating complex hierarchical device geometries from mesoporous materials presents several scientifically interesting and technologically relevant challenges. Here, we show how digital light processing of photoresponsive building block defined by an oxozirconium methacrylate cluster with 12 methacrylic acid ligands can be used to enable the creation of complex superstructures characterized by multilevel porous networks. Inspired by similarly complex 3D hierarchical mesoporous structures ubiquitous in nature, we demonstrated the fabrication of a 3D leaf as a proof of concept. This work demonstrates how exciting opportunity space emerging at the intersection of inorganic building blocks, mesoporous materials, and 3D digital light processing opens new pathways to create functional hierarchical superstructures and devices with complex geometries.