Using 3D printing as a research tool for materials discovery

In this perspective, we highlight some significant advances in polymer additive manufacturing and bioprinting over the past few years, with an eye toward future applications of 3D printing technology as a research tool for the discovery and design of new materials. While chemistry has taken a central role in advancing the capabilities of 3D printing in factories and hospitals, we believe its profound but overlooked impact may be as a research tool in the laboratory. High-throughput discovery techniques are used in many fields, including drug discovery and biochemistry. 3D printing will play a similar role in the discovery of new materials by acting as a rapid testing platform for artificial intelligence and machine learning tools that will not only guide the design of the materials but also provide insights into how they can be transitioned from the lab to production-scale manufacturing.