Additive Manufacturing of Ceramics Enabled by Flash Pyrolysis of Polymer Precursors with Nanoscale Layers

Abstract

We show that a polymer‐based route to ceramics can be implemented into additive manufacturing by reducing the time for pyrolysis to about a second, which we call flash pyrolysis . Repetitive deposition of nanometer scale coatings of the ceramic, in this way, is employed to create defect‐free infiltrations of carbon fiber composites. The mechanical strength of the fibers is retained in the composite. Excellent wetting properties of the polymer precursor permits three‐dimensional, conformal coating through the three stages of infiltration: nanoscale coating of the single fibers, filling of interstitial spaces between the fibers, and a buildup of the coating over the entire composite. The flash pyrolysis method will enable a new genre of polymer‐derived ceramics made into net shape by this unusual method of additive manufacturing.