The need for speed: continuous 3D printing at centimeters-per-second speeds using a lubricated textured membrane

To transition additive manufacturing from a rapid-prototyping role to at-scale production, commercial resin-based printers have pushed towards 1 meter-per-hour printing speed by synergizing area projection and continuous stage motion. To push this further, we present a continuous 3D-printing method using a lubricated textured membrane – dubbed TEMPO - to achieve a 100-fold improvement in speed over the current state-of-the-art. These high-speeds have elucidated a breakdown in the traditional working curve model, as the speed-accuracy trade-off shifts from supply-limited to reaction limited. The versatility of the lubricant layer allows the user to tailor TEMPO for printing speeds of up to 3 cm/s, resolutions down to 1.76um for freestanding features, and viscous and scattering, high-performance polymers with minimal considerations to the physical limitations of the printing window.