Diffusiophoresis-enhanced particle deposition for additive manufacturing

The ability to govern particle assembly in an evaporative-driven additive manufacturing (AM) can realize multi-scale features fundamental to creating printed electronics. However, existing techniques remain challenging and often require templates or contaminating solutes. We explore the control of particle deposition in 3D-printed colloids by diffusiophoresis, a previously unexplored mechanism in multi-scale AM. Diffusiophoresis can introduce spontaneous phoretic particle motion by establishing local solute concentration gradients. We show that diffusiophoresis can play a dominant role in complex evaporative-driven particle assembly, enabling a fundamentally new and versatile control of particle deposition in a multi-scale AM process. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].