Partially Cured Photopolymer with Gradient Bingham Plastic Behaviors as a Versatile Deformable Material

We present rheological and mechanical behaviors of a partially cured photopolymer. When an ultraviolet (UV)-curable resin is exposed to UV light in atmospheric conditions, a partially cured layer is formed on the top of the resin owing to inhibitory effects of oxygen. Interestingly, such a partially cured resin behaves like a Bingham plastic with a yield stress, being a rigid solid at low shear stress and a viscous liquid at high stress. Unlike typical Bingham plastic materials, however, deformation rate saturation is observed with an increase in applied stress, which is attributed to the gradient in the degree of photopolymerization of the resin (termed “gradient Bingham plastic”). This gradient Bingham plastic can be utilized for the robust fabrication of diverse 3D, multiscale structures.