Know About The Spectroplast Technology And 3d Silicone Printing

Spectroplast is a young Swiss company that specializes in 3D printing of silicone, a material that is starting to appear in the additive manufacturing market. And for a good reason, silicone has many advantages and answers applications in several sectors such as medical, aerospace or food. However, the process of 3D printing of such a material is more complicated to control because of its particular viscosity. Spectroplast, however, has developed additive manufacturing technology to overcome these challenges and offer custom 3D printed parts.  I met his co-founder and CTO, Petar Stefanov, to find out more.

Can you introduce yourself and tell us more about creating Spectroplast?

Spectroplast AG is a Swiss startup from ETH Zurich that was founded in October 2018. Today, we can realize silicone designs through our high-precision silicone additive manufacturing process. Functional parts can be made with any commercial silicone, without the use of molds, reducing costs and manufacturing time. 

Our young and dynamic team, composed of experts in technology, commerce, and research, aims to commercialize the 3D silicone printing technology and to produce silicone parts in large series. We want to create a real and positive impact.

Can you explain how your technology works?

First, the silicone is placed in a printing tank in which the printing plate is lowered to the surface of the silicone. Then, a scraper spreads a thin layer of silicone on the tray. A light source is used to illuminate areas to be solidified. The tray then sinks deeper into the liquid silicone and the process begins again. At the end, the finished pieces come out of the tank that contains the liquid. 

The material used is compatible with SLA or DLP 3D printing technologies, which means that silicone parts can be made directly from a printer. Traditionally, silicone components are made by injection molding or casting, which requires molds. It is both long and expensive. Additive manufacturing completely bypasses the use of molds. 

Since we can use standard silicones on the market, we usually develop the material together with the customer to meet its requirements. In addition, we have also developed silicones covering a range of stiffness and we continue to work on these materials daily.

For which applications is the technology suitable?

At the moment, we are targeting quite diverse sectors requiring custom sealing solutions or specific silicone components such as valves, gaskets, bellows, etc. It is aimed at very specialized industries in the field of robotics or for damping applications. We can also meet the needs of the automotive and aerospace sectors, but also the food where we create kitchen and cooking accessories. We are also considering direct applications in the entertainment industry whether it is to make toys or artistic and animatronic operations. 

Our goal is to target industries that offer personalized medical applications to improve people's lives. This includes helmets and portable equipment, hearing aids, custom shoe soles, and so on. Ultimately, we would like to offer a whole range of personalized health products and medical implants printed in 3D.

What are the main benefits of using silicone? The main challenges?

Silicone is a safe and biocompatible material already used in many applications, from plaster to medical implants. Silicones are not yet widespread on the additive manufacturing market - a technology that is more interested in plastics, metals or ceramics. However, when we observe nature, we realize that it uses a whole cosmos of soft materials capable of transforming itself, of shaping themselves. It uses materials that will adapt and interact with the environment. Flexible materials have a number of unique features, including multifunctionality, adaptability, and responsiveness. 

These soft materials are not yet compatible with 3D printing. At Spectroplast, we have the world's first SLA silicone printing technology, which extends the range of printable media, from rigid to stretchable.

 

There are, however, two fairly important challenges when printing silicone:

• The material has a high viscosity meaning that it behaves like a gel that does not spread.
• It solidifies at high temperature.

What are your future projects?

By half of the year, we will expand our production of components, ready to be customized and delivered. These will include medical models, pacifiers, pacifiers and suction cups for babies, hearing aids and orthopedic insoles.

How do you see the future of 3D silicone printing?

Currently, silicone parts are designed and made for high efficiency and mass production. However, there is already strong market demand for custom silicone parts. Additive manufacturing allows for mass customization and we believe that it will be the right way to offer complex and customized silicone products.

There is already a significant gap in the market of 7 to 10%, a gap that is not solved with injection molding because traditional manufacturing methods are not viable from a technical or economic point of view. You can not create complex shapes with molds, for example. 

Thanks to our technology, we can create custom components with high throughput, flexible, compliant and scalable, suitable for industrial and medical applications. We can cover the entire range of silicone hardness (between Shore A 0 and Shore A 80), all with the utmost precision. The material is certified, safe and resistant. This means that all you have to do is imagine and let us materialize your creativity.