Additive Manufacturing of Elastomeric Composite Lattices with Thermally Grown Micro‐Architectures for Versatile Applications

Abstract Microengineering of materials plays an important role in achieving multifunctionality and enhancing performance. However, it is still a major challenge to construct secondary micro‐architectures in composite lattices to date. Herein, a novel microengineering strategy of combining additive manufacturing and thermo‐growth processes is proposed to develop elastomeric composite lattices with micro‐architectures throughout the filaments for versatile applications. The new printing inks are composed of elastomeric matrices, closed‐cell microspheres and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). After printing, microspheres “grow” to form secondary micro‐architectures inside by applying thermal treatment. Such thermo‐growth offers a good opportunity to manufacture objects with exceptional and complex micro‐architectures, and few synthetic materials can “grow” like this. Further investigation shows that the obtained microstructured elastomeric composite lattice has an excellent impact energy dissipation capacity by reducing the impact force by 57% owing to the hierarchical energy dissipation mechanisms, and exhibits a distinctively linear electrical response to impact which endows it a self‐sensing capability. In addition, it also shows a good thermal‐insulation performance endowed by mm‐scale pores and µm‐scale hollow spheres, which is comparable to existing composite foams. This study represents an innovative and effective approach for the development of micro‐engineered composite lattices with excellent multifunctional properties for versatile applications.