Polymer fibers are a unique type of material that combines a high aspect ratio, large surface area, and a high degree of orientation of polymer chains, allowing them to be used in a wide variety of natural and engineered applications, the most well-known of which is reinforcement.

However, the fibers are difficult to handle due to their length, making them difficult to combine with additive manufacturing. Various fiber spinning approaches, including electrospinning and electrowriting, have been used as an additive manufacturing method or in combination with additive manufacturing of smart structures. Despite the advantages of these fiber spinning methods, they have limitations. For example, programmable fiber deposition using electrospinning is challenging. Although electrowriting allows programmable fiber deposition, this method is slow, and the deposited fibers lack one of their main advantages, the orientation of the polymer chains, making them less effective for reinforcement. We have recently developed a fundamentally new fiber spinning method that allows for fast and programmed fiber deposition of fibers with oriented chains and can be easily combined with additive manufacturing. This and other fiber spinning methods combined with additive manufacturing open new perspectives for the fabrication of smart biomimetic structures with advanced mechanical properties.

Prof. Dr. Leonid Ionov