The Voxel 8 is an extrusion based 3D printer, which aims to fast prototype 3D periodic architectures and 2D irregular patterns. It comprises a build plate and a computer-controlled translation stage. The stage is equipped with two printing heads, which are suitable for both Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) and Direct Ink Writing (DIW). The maximum printing object can be 4 × 6 × 4 inches. Printing feature size depends on printing speed and applied pressure.
The FFF extruder can print thermoplastic polymers such as PLA (Tm ~200o C) and ABS (Tm ~105o C) with a filament size down to 0.35mm. It can be used to fabricate molds, templates and scaffolds for medical tissue engineering applications.
DIW extruder can print shear thinning fluids such as pastes and colloidal inks. Filament size conforms to the nozzle size, ranging from 1mm down to 76µm. To build up a 3D spanning architecture, DIW inks should have the following rheological specifications: 105 Pa < Gā < 106 Pa and 102 Pa < Ļy < 103 Pa.
Maximum particle agglomerate size should be 10 times smaller than the nozzle diameter to avoid nozzle clogging.
More information on the printer can be found on