Digitally-controlled three-dimensional printing of polymerizable materials

Abstract

Provided are methods of fabricating an object, effected by jetting two or more different compositions, each containing a different material or mixture of materials, which, when contacted on a receiving medium, undergo a chemical reaction therebetween to form the building material. The chemical composition of the formed building material is dictated by a ratio of the number of voxels of each composition in a voxel block. Systems for executing the methods, and printed objects obtained thereby are also provided.

1 . A method of fabricating an object, the method comprising:
 receiving three-dimensional printing data corresponding to the shape of the object;   selecting a ratio between a first composition and a second composition, wherein said first composition comprises a first material and said second composition comprises a second material, said first and second materials undergoing a chemical reaction with one another so as to form a building material when exposed to a curing energy;   dispensing droplets of said first and said second compositions in layers, on a receiving medium, using at least two different inkjet printing heads, according to said printing data;   wherein for at least one region of the object, said dispensing of said droplets is selected to form voxel blocks, wherein, for each block, a ratio between a number of voxels of said first composition in said block and a number of voxels of said second composition in said block corresponds to said selected ratio.   
     
     
         2 - 7 . (canceled) 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising exposing the dispensed layers to said curing energy. 
     
     
         9 - 13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of said first and second compositions comprises an additional material for inducing a chemical reaction between said first and second materials. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said first material is a first curable material. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein said second material is selected capable of modifying a chemical, physical and/or mechanical property of a modeling material formed of said first curable material, upon chemically reacting with said first curable material and exposure to said curing energy, and wherein a degree of said modifying is determined by selecting said ratio. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein said second material is a second curable material. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said first material comprises a first plurality of monomers and said second material comprises a second plurality of monomers being chemically different from said first plurality of monomers, and wherein said first and second pluralities of monomers chemically react with one another upon exposure to said curing energy. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein said second material affects cross-linking of a polymeric material formed of said first curable material. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein said second material promotes a polymerization of said first curable material upon exposure to said curing energy, while forming a part of a modeling material formed by curing said first curable material. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein said first curable material is a monomer that is polymerizable by an anionic ring opening polymerization. 
     
     
         22 - 23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein said first curable material is a caprolactam. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein said second material comprises at least one material that promotes said anionic ring opening polymerization while forming a part of said modeling material formed by curing said caprolactam. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein said second material comprises a moiety that chemically interacts with said caprolactam during said polymerization. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein said second material further comprises an additional moiety which is such that when forming a part of a modeling material formed of said caprolactam, a chemical, physical and/or mechanical property of said modeling material is modified. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein said additional moiety comprises an elastomeric moiety, and optically-active moiety, a light-absorbing moiety, a hydrophobic moiety, a hydrophilic moiety and/or a chemically-reactive moiety. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein said second material is represented by the general Formula I: 
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
         wherein: 
         A is said additional moiety; 
         R is N-acyl lactam; and 
         n is a positive integer. 
       
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein said second material comprises at least two N-acyl lactam groups. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein said first composition further comprises a catalyst for inducing polymerization of said caprolactam. 
     
     
         32 . (canceled) 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein said second composition is devoid of said first curable material. 
     
     
         34 - 51 . (canceled) 
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein said second material is represented by Formula II: 
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
         wherein: 
         A is said additional moiety; 
         L is absent or is a linking moiety; and 
         A′ is absent or is another additional moiety, being said or different from said A. 
       
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 52 , wherein A′ comprises at least one N-acyl lactam moiety. 
     
     
         54 - 56 . (canceled) 
     
     
         57 . A system for three-dimensional printing, comprising:
 a plurality of inkjet printing heads, each having a plurality of separated nozzles;   a user interface for receiving a selected ratio between a first composition and a second composition, wherein said first composition comprises a first material and said second composition comprises a second material, said first and second materials undergoing a chemical reaction with one another so as to form a modeling material when contacted and exposed to a curing energy; and   a controller configured for controlling two of said inkjet printing heads to respectively dispense droplets of said first and second compositions in layers, such as to print a three-dimensional object,   wherein said controller is configured to form voxel blocks, wherein, for each block, a ratio between a number of voxels of said first composition in said block and a number of voxels of said second composition in said block corresponds to said selected ratio.   
     
     
         58 . (canceled)