Abstract
Background: Nanotechnology, even if unknowingly, has been used for millennia. The occurrence of shiny colors in pottery and glass made hundreds and thousand of years ago is due to the presence of nanoparticles in the fabrication of such ornaments. In the last decade, 3D printing has revolutionized fabrication and manufacturing processes, making it easier to produce, in a simple and fast way, 3D objects.Results: In this paper we show how to fabricate a 3D-printable nanocomposite composed of dichroic gold nanoparticles and a 3D-printable polymer. The minute amount of gold nanoparticles used for obtaining the dichroic effect does not influence the mechanical properties of the polymer nor its printability. Thus, the nanocomposite can be easily 3D-printed using a standard 3D printer and shows a purple color in transmission and a brownish color in reflection.Conclusion: This methodology can be used not only by artists, but also for studying the optical properties of nanoparticles or, for example, for the 3D fabrication of optical filters.
Highlights
As evidenced by paleolithic cave paintings [1], humans have always been fascinated by colors
We discovered that a citrate/gold ratio between 0.6 and 0.8 produced dichroic nanoparticles that showed a brownish reflection and a purple transmission (Figure 1a)
The nanoparticle solution was studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), showing that it was composed of polydisperse elongated nanoparticles of 50–60 nm with a mean aspect ratio of 1.4 (Figure 1b and Supporting Information File 1, Figure S1)
Summary
In this paper we show how to fabricate a 3D-printable nanocomposite composed of dichroic gold nanoparticles and a 3D-printable polymer. The minute amount of gold nanoparticles used for obtaining the dichroic effect does not influence the mechanical properties of the polymer nor its printability. The nanocomposite can be 3D-printed using a standard 3D printer and shows a purple color in transmission and a brownish color in reflection
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