Development of a liquid toner for electro-photographic solid freeform fabrication

Solid freeform fabrication is still a major challenge for ceramic materials. Here we discuss a novel solid freeform method, “Electro-photographic solid freeform fabrication” (ESFF) that needs specific qualities for solid (powder) and liquid (slurry) toner (electronic ink). The process is similar to photocopying using ceramic particles. Overall ESFF is based on slicing a 3D structure into 2D layers and depositing these layers one over the other by a photosensitive photoconductor drum. Here we present the development of a liquid toner based on submicron particles, a study of its flow behavior and electrophoretic tests confirming that the toner could be used for ESFF.