Scientists at the University of Notre Dame in the United States have invented a new 3D printing method - high-throughput combination printing, which can control the 3D structure and local composition of materials, print materials with gradient changes in flexibility, and is expected to become a "game changer" in the field of new material discovery and manufacturing. The relevant research is published in the latest issue of the journal Nature. The rapid development of clean energy and environmental sustainability, as well as electronic and biomedical equipment, has increased the demand for new materials. However, discovering a new material usually takes 10-20 years. If this time can be reduced to less than a year or even a few months, it will change the game rules of new material discovery and manufacturing. In view of this, the research team at Notre Dame University has created a new 3D printing method called High Throughput Combination Printing (HTCP), which can produce materials in a way that traditional manufacturing cannot match. In the new process, various atomized nanomaterials' ink 'will be mixed in a printing nozzle, and the proportion of various materials in the' ink 'will also dynamically change during the printing process. Therefore, HTCP can control the 3D structure and local composition of printed materials, and produce gradient materials with gradually varying flexibility at microscale spatial resolution. The research team pointed out that aerosol-based HTCP has a wide range of applications, suitable for printing various metals, semiconductors, and dielectrics, as well as polymers and biomaterials. Moreover, the composite materials it generates have a "library" function, with each library containing thousands of unique components, which can significantly accelerate the development of new materials. They have used a new method to print a semiconductor material with excellent thermoelectric properties, which is expected to "showcase" in energy collection and cooling applications. Gradient materials can be used as a "bridge" between soft body tissues and hard wearable or implantable devices, making them particularly useful in the field of biomedical engineering. The research team next plans to apply machine learning and artificial intelligence strategies to HTCP, providing richer data to accelerate the development of more new materials. (New News Agency)