Federally funded research and development center Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has developed a hybrid additive and subtractive manufacturing system using a unique dual-function resin that can both cure and degrade under different light wavelengths. The innovation, detailed in Advanced Materials Technologies, aims to enable corrective 3D printing, improve resolution, and allow for recycling or upcycling of printed parts. The first commercial applications are being facilitated through LLNL’s Innovation and Partnerships Office (IPO).
The project, funded by LLNL’s LDRD office, was led by Liliana Dongping Terrel-Perez. Other members of the research team included Benjamin Alameda, Johanna Schwartz, Holden Howard, Martin De Beer, and Magi Yassa.
Dual-Wavelength Resin Enables Corrections and Recycling
Traditional 3D printing methods build objects layer by layer, and errors often require a complete reprint. LLNL’s new resin responds to blue light by hardening and to ultraviolet (UV) light by reverting to a liquid state, enabling modifications after printing.
“Imagine if a company needed a part to fit a certain machine but it’s a prototype and they’re not quite sure what they want,” said LLNL scientist and author Benjamin Alameda. “They could theoretically print with our resin. And if there were defects or something they wanted to change about it, they don’t have to print a whole new part. They could just shine another wavelength on it and modify the existing part. That’s useful and less wasteful.”
For instance, a fluidic device with two channels was printed using this resin. The channels were connected post-printing by triggering degradation, demonstrating that even parts with design issues could be corrected instead of discarded. “Now after the fact, it’s just a very simple correction. Now it’s usable again.”
Path to Commercialization and Advanced Applications
The patented resin technology is available for licensing through LLNL’s IPO, allowing companies to implement it on existing light-based 3D printers. It enables finer surface finishes, error correction, and removal of temporary support structures. The resin’s chemistry was optimized to balance rapid hardening with controlled degradability, preventing unintentional breakdown under ambient UV light.
Looking forward, LLNL researchers plan to integrate on-machine metrology and adaptive feedback systems to automatically correct print errors in real time. “Once we see there are printing errors, we can adaptively modify the projection images to correct those errors on-the-fly, which enables a true adaptive manufacturing. Besides DLP printing, we are also planning to transfer this method to volumetric additive and subtractive manufacturing, which shines light to a rotating vial of resin and fabricates a 3D part all at once,” said author and LLNL scientist Liliana Dongping Terrel-Perez.
Light-Based Strategies in 3D Printing
LLNL’s technique is one example of the use of light-based strategies to enhance material control and improve printing precision in additive manufacturing
Earlier this year, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), led by Zak Page, developed a dual-light 3D printing method that produces objects with both flexible and rigid regions in a single print, mimicking natural structures like bone and cartilage. The custom resin responds to violet and UV light, allowing seamless integration of soft and hard components. Demonstrations included a functional knee joint and a stretchable electronic circuit. Supported by U.S. federal agencies, the technique offers a fast, low-cost approach for prosthetics, medical devices, soft robotics, and wearable sensors.
Elsewhere, MIT researchers recently developed a 3D printing method that uses a light-sensitive resin capable of forming both durable structures and dissolvable supports—depending on the type of light it’s exposed to. Ultraviolet (UV) light hardens the resin into strong, permanent shapes, while visible light produces weaker supports that can be dissolved in specific solvents. The new method eliminates manual post-processing such as cutting or filing, accelerating production and minimizing waste.
The 3D Printing Industry Awards are back. Make your nominations now.
Do you operate a 3D printing start-up? Reach readers, potential investors, and customers with the 3D Printing Industry Start-up of Year competition.
To stay up to date with the latest 3D printing news, don’t forget to subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter or follow us on Linkedin.
Featured image shows Demonstrations of a new corrective manufacturing technique. In the left panel (a), low resolution printed shapes are shown at top and corrected shapes are shown at bottom. In the right panel (b), hybrid manufacturing is used to correct a gap in a fluidic structure. Image via LLNL.
