A fresh innovation looks set to allow for much speedier 3D printing with multiple materials.

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As you may well be aware, 3D printers which can work with multiple materials already exist in a number of forms (including dual-extrusion models among others), but the problem is that whatever method is used to switch between materials is currently slower than ideal.

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That’s where a new multi-material multi-nozzle 3D (MM3D) printhead comes into play, as Nature.com reports. It is capable of printing with up to eight different materials from one nozzle – and there can be multiple nozzles – plus it can switch very quickly between those materials. All of which makes for a much more seamless and faster method of multiple-material 3D printing, while still maintaining a suitably fine level of detail.

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Superfast switching

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Or as the creators of the invention put it : “Our MM3D printheads exploit the diode-like behaviour […]

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