Application of stereolithography to chemical engineering - 'From macro to micro'

The accuracy of the conventional stereolithography process has been improved to shape microstructures, especially for chemical engineering applications. Thus, a new recoating system has been developed to allow the deposition of resin or suspension layers with thickness ranging from 5 to 40 pm. Moreover, the influences of photornaterial formulation and of oxygen inhibition have been discussed with regard to polymerization kinetics and process accuracy. As a consequence, lateral and vertical resolutions of conventional stereolithography have been improved to 50 and 5 mu m respectively. Finally, microstructures such as microtransducers, micropumps and heat exchangers have been created by stereolithography. As a result, the contribution of these microstructures to process intensification and local control has to be considered.