Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have combined binder jet additive manufacturing (BJAM) with advanced post-processing to produce leak-tight ceramic components, addressing a longstanding challenge in ceramic 3D printing. ORNL reports that this is the first known leak-tight joint created using AM, paving the way for scalable BJAM assemblies.
The research team, including Dylan Richardson, Corson Cramer, Amy Elliott, and Kashif Nawaz, received SME’s 2025 Dick Aubin Distinguished Paper Award for their contribution to AM. Funding came from the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy and the DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office.
Scalable, Cost-Efficient Method Opens Industrial Applications
Ceramics are valued for their high-temperature resistance, chemical stability, and mechanical strength—making them indispensable in extreme environments. Yet, scaling up ceramic AM has long been a challenge, limiting adoption in sectors such as pharmaceutical and chemical processing, where high-throughput reactors require complex, large-scale, and gas-tight components. ORNL’s approach introduces a joining technique that assembles smaller 3D printed parts into larger, robust structures without sacrificing performance.
“Ceramic 3D printing allows fabrication of intricate and high-performance components that are difficult to achieve with traditional manufacturing methods,” said Trevor Aguirre, lead researcher in ORNL’s Extreme Environment Materials Process Group. “This advancement provides a validated methodology to produce high-quality components — and enable the development of next-generation reactors.”
The team tested different geometries to identify designs that could maintain gas-tight integrity and refined post-processing to improve the bonding and sealing of ceramic joints. The ceramic components not only meet the demand for larger structures but also benefit from a cost-efficient process, which supports broader adoption of ceramic AM in high-performance industries such as aerospace.
Other Advances in 3D Printing Ceramics
Beyond ORNL, several companies are pushing the boundaries of ceramic AM. Austrian firm Lithoz is producing aluminium nitride (AlN) heat exchangers for hydrogen-electric propulsion systems in megawatt-class aircraft. This work is part of the EU-funded TRIATHLON project, which aims to develop more robust, low-emission, low-maintenance powertrains to decarbonize aviation and improve system sustainability.
Ergon Research designed the heat exchangers using a thermodynamics-driven control system, while production was carried out on Lithoz’s lithography-based ceramic manufacturing (LCM) CeraFab 3D printers. The ceramic components eliminate the need for energy-intensive cryogenic hydrogen pumps. Aluminium nitride, with a thermal conductivity of 211 W/mK and a favorable expansion coefficient, enables compact, lightweight architectures critical for electrified aviation. This technology is expected to reduce maintenance requirements and save operators hundreds of thousands of euros in costs.
Elsewhere, U.S.-based Tethon 3D, a specialist in ceramic AM, has partnered with advanced materials company polySpectra to launch ThOR 10, a composite photopolymer resin engineered for industrial 3D printing. The material combines polySpectra’s thermally stable, impact-resistant Cyclic Olefin Resin (COR) platform with Tethon’s proprietary ceramic fillers, producing a resin suitable for demanding end-use parts.
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Featured image shows 3D printed component filled with a silicon-carbide pre-ceramic polymer and heat-treated to produce amorphous silicon carbide. Photo via ORNL.
