Design, Fabrication, Mechanics, and Multifunctional Applications of Shell-Based Nanoarchitected Materials

Abstract

High-performance materials occupying unexplored regions of material property space must be developed for scientific advancement and engineering applications. Advanced fabrication techniques and approaches have been developed and used to fabricate 3D structures with complicated geometries and nanoscale feature sizes, leading to unprecedented mechanical properties by optimizing topologies and controlling feature sizes. Shell-based lattice materials, characterized by their smooth and continuous geometries, exhibit distinct advantages over truss- or plate-based lattices, including fabrication-friendly open-cell topologies and uniform strain-energy distributions. The combination of shell-based topology, nanoscale feature size, and robust constituent materials imparts superior mechanical properties to shell-based nanoarchitected materials, such as high modulus, high strength (even achieving theoretical limits), remarkable mechanical resilience, and significant energy-absorption capacities. Herein, the recent advances in design, fabrication, and mechanics of shell-based nanoarchitected materials are reviewed. First, the design and optimization of shell-based topology and associated fabrication techniques are introduced. Subsequently, their mechanical behaviors and properties are summarized, including Young's modulus, compressive strength, deformation mechanisms, and energy-absorption characteristics. Furthermore, recent advances in multifunctional applications are discussed, highlighting their potential applications in the thermal, biomedical, optical, electromagnetic, acoustic, and catalytic fields. Finally, unresolved issues and future challenges in the field of shell-based nanoarchitected materials are discussed.