Additive manufacturing of flexible polymer-derived ceramic matrix composites

It remains challenging to broaden the application fields of ceramics, largely because the hardness and brittleness of ceramics mean that they cannot undergo shape reconfiguration. In this study, we developed an ultraviolet light-curable preceramic polymer slurry, and this slurry was used for digital light processing printing of flexible green parts in designed shapes. These parts were subsequently transformed into complex structures by an assisted secondary molding strategy that enabled the morphology of their green and pyrolyzed forms to be well controlled. The collapse of bulk pyrolyzed parts was avoided by impregnating their precursors with silicon nitride (Si3N4) particles. The effects of different proportions of Si3N4 on the weight loss, shrinkage, density, porosity, and mechanical properties of the pyrolyzed composites were investigated, and the bending strength and Vickers hardness of the composites with 10 wt.% Si3N4 were found to be 130.61 +/- 16.01 MPa and 6.43 +/- 0.12 GPa, respectively.