Current status of 4D printing technology and the potential of light-reactive smart materials as 4D printable materials

The onset of multi-material 3D printing and the combination of smart materials into the printable material has led to the development of an exciting new technology called 4D printing. This paper will introduce the background and development into 4D printing, discuss water reactive 4D printing methods and temperature reactive 4D printing, modelling and simulation software, and future applications of this new technology. Smart materials that react to different external stimuli are described, along with the benefits of these smart materials and their potential use in 4D printing applications; specifically, existing light-reactive smart materials. 4D printing has the prospective to simplify the design and manufacturing of different products and the potential of automating actuation devices that naturally react to their environment without the need for human interaction, batteries, processors, sensors, and motors.