Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Additive manufacturing materials, methods and applications: A review

Akash Bhatia ⇑, Anuj Kumar Sehgal ⇑
Mechanical Engineering Department, Chandigarh University, Mohali, Punjab 140413, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In the recent studies additive manufacturing technology prove their importance in every field because of
Available online xxxx its accessibility increases as the earlier patents expired which gives an opportunity to the manufacturers
to develop different types of 3D printing devices as per need. There are different types of material avail-
Keywords: able in the market and for every type of material we need an additive manufacturing method to print
Rapid prototyping these materials layer by layer on top of each other by using 3D CAD models (Mazzanti et al., 2019). In
Additive manufacturing methods this paper we discusses wide range of materials in details with respective 3D printing techniques.
Additive manufacturing materials
Further materials which are most commonly used such as polymers, metals and alloys, composites, con-
3D Printer
3D CAD
crete, ceramics to the materials which are under development stages such as biomaterials, food printing
materials, smart materials, glass, resin and wood are discussed in detail with their respective 3D printing
methods. The scope of 3D printing in the suggested areas are concluded.
Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Virtual
Conference on Sustainable Materials (IVCSM-2k20).

1. Introduction
Additive manufacturing is the emerging field of future technol-
ogy, helps to fabricate wide range of simple and complex struc-
tures with 3D CAD modeling. Additive manufacturing technology
is the process of printing materials layer by layer on top of each
other. This technology has been developed by Charles Hull in
1986 in the form of stereolithography (SLA) and now followed by
researchers to develop number of latest techniques and materials
for desired use [1]. Additive manufacturing is not only limited to
prototypes but also used as a small-scale manufacturing because
it offers cost effective products, strong and lightweight parts, flex-
ible designs, minimizing wastage of materials, ease of access, fast
design and productions and many more advantages. Now a days
additive manufacturing technology offers wide range of applica-
tions also in various industrial sectors such as in aerospace,
defense, medical science, electronics, civil engineering, automotive
industries, ocean engineering and aviation industries etc. As the
advancement occurs in the area of additive manufacturing various
number of materials also developed for 3D printing, materials like
metals, polymers, composites, ceramics, wood, powder, glass and
building materials, biodegradable materials, smart materials etc
[1–3]. These materials are easily print with the help of 3D printers
⇑ Corresponding authors.
E-mail address: akash@gmail.com (A. Bhatia).
and every method is designed for a specific purpose to print speci-
fic material. Additive manufacturing methods such as Fused Depo-
sition Modelling (FDM), Stereolithography (SLA), Micro-
stereolithography, Direct Metal Laser Sintering, Electron Beam
Melting, PolyJet, Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Laminated Object
Manufacturing, Powder bed fusion and Inkjet printing and contour
crafting etc. [1,4]. Additive manufacturing materials and methods
enhance 3D printing technology as the advancements occurs day
by day and make it better for industrial use. Recent developments
in this technology helps to reduce the cost of 3D printers and
makes it an affordable technology which is capable to print even
customized products. Customization of the product is a challenge
for manufacturers due to its high cost but it’s an easy for additive
manufacturing technology to print small quantities of customized
products at affordable prices. Additive manufacturing technology
optimized day by day which improves its accuracy and versatility
which helps to achieve a shift in the industries from ‘Rapid proto-
typing’ to ‘Rapid manufacturing’ which means a complete part can
be manufactured with the help of rapid prototyping device [1,5].
Additive manufacturing of ultrafine aerosols and volatile organic
compounds are detected as a harmful and toxic to humans, it’s a
big issue and safety risk. In order to reduce the harmful effects of
these materials we have to design and manufacture less toxic
and low-emitted 3D printing materials because some of the 3D
printing materials not only toxic but also emit unpleasant smell.
In order to resolve these problems, we have to use natural

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.04.379
2214-7853/Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Virtual Conference on Sustainable Materials (IVCSM-2k20).

Please cite this article as: A. Bhatia and Anuj Kumar Sehgal, Additive manufacturing materials, methods and applications: A review, Materials Today: Pro-
ceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.04.379
A. Bhatia and Anuj Kumar Sehgal Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

polymers for 3D printing, which is renewable and biodegradable

[6]. Biodegradable and compostable materials are eco-friendly
and can be easily recycled and disposed of at the end-of-life cycle.
The use of biodegradable and compostable materials is necessary
because as the price drops of 3D printers, accessibility to growing
number of peoples increases which may leads to increase the
heavy use of materials due to this wastage occurs because non-
biodegradable materials cannot be easily recycled and disposed
of [7]. In this review, the various types of additive manufacturing
materials like polymers, metals and alloys, composites, ceramics,
food printing materials, biomaterials, smart materials, powders
and some other materials is discussed with applicable methods
with suitability with additive manufacturing perspective.

2. Additive manufacturing materials, methods and applications

Fig. 1. 3D printed PLA-based porous scaffold [1].
Additive manufacturing materials are those materials which
can be used in additive manufacturing technology to manufacture
desired products. There are different types of material available in able and bioactive thermoplastic aliphatic polyester derived from
the market and for every type of material we need an additive renewable and natural resources such as sugarcane, chips or
manufacturing method to print these materials layer by layer on starch, corn starch and tapioca roots. PLA is the chemical combina-
top of each other by using 3D CAD model [7]. This section discusses tion of two main monomers i.e cyclic di-ester, lactide and lactide
the wide range of materials in details with respective 3D printing acid. PLA is produced with the help of ring-opening polymerization
techniques. of lactide, in which various metal catalysts are added in the solu-
tion or in the melt and as suspension. Bacterial fermentation of
renewable feedstock helps to produce PLA material and this
2.1. Polymers method is used by Reliance Life Sciences which developed a com-
plete production of PLA material. PLA has good mechanical proper-
Polymers are the most common and basic material is consid- ties as compared to traditional polymers. PLA is a semi-crystalline
ered for 3D printing because of their ease of availability, low cost, and amorphous solid and having glass transition temperature of
good mechanical properties and ease of adoption to different 3D 55 °C and melting temperature of 180 °C. Mostly used 3D printing
printing processes [1]. Polymers used in additive manufacturing methods for printing of polymers are fused deposition modelling
are Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), Nylon, Acrylonitrile- (FDM), stereolithography (SLA) and laminated object manufactur-
styrene-acrylate (ASA), High impact polystyrene (HIPS), Polyethy- ing (LOM) [4,8,10].
lene terephthalate (PET), Polylactic acid (PLA), Polycarbonate
(PC), Polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG), Polyether ether
2.2. Metals and alloys
ketone (PEEK), Thermoplastic polyester (TPC) and methyl
methacrylate-acrylonitrile–butadienestyrene (MABS) and many
Metals and alloys are also printed with the help of 3D printers.
more polymer materials are available in the market. Mostly poly-
Mostly additive manufacturing of metals and alloys are used in
mers are used in health care sector, aviation industry, automotive
prototyping, research and also for small scale manufacturing in
industry, in the fabrication of toys, electronics industry etc. Most
aerospace industry, aviation industry, automotive industry,
commonly used polymers for 3D printing are Acrylonitrile-
biomedical and defense (Fig. 2). Additive manufacturing of metals
butadiene-styrene (ABS) and Polylactic acid (PLA) [2]. ABS is the
and alloys provide ease of manufacturing to print complex geome-
chemical combination of three monomer units i.e Acrylonitrile,
tries as compared to conventional manufacturing methods.
Butadiene, Styrene and its chemical formula is [(C8H8)x * (C4H6)y *
There are number of metals and alloys are used in additive
(C3H3N)z]. ABS is common thermoplastic polymer and the main
manufacturing, such as titanium and its alloys, nickel-based alloys,
reason of its popularity is its ease of availability and good mechan-
sterling silver, stainless and tool steel, aluminium alloys, brass,
ical properties. Production of ABS is easy and cost effective, actu-
copper, gold, platinum and bronze etc. These materials are avail-
ally ABS is a terpolymer and produced by polymerizing
able in the market but the cost of additive manufacturing of metals
acrylonitrile and styrene in the presence of polybutadiene. These
monomers are chemically mixed at varying proportions i.e 15 to
35% acrylonitrile, 40 to 60% styrene, 5 to 30% butadiene. ABS is
stronger than pure polystyrene due to the presence of nitrile group
and styrene provides shiny surface to ABS and polybutadiene pro-
vides toughness to the material at even low temperatures. ABS is
amorphous solid and has no true melting point and having
105 °C glass transition temperature. Mostly ABS material is used
at 20 to 80 °C because mechanical properties of material vary
with temperature [8]. ABS is recyclable material; it can be recycled
from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). During
recycling of ABS material void defects can occur and the main
cause of these defects are the evolution of volatile substances
and as the void level increases flexural strength and ductility
decreases and mechanical properties of ABS material affected [9].
On the other hand, Polylactic acid (PLA) is also most common
polymer, which is used for 3D printing (Fig. 1). PLA is a biodegrad- Fig. 2. 3D printed GE engine bracket of aircraft [11].

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A. Bhatia and Anuj Kumar Sehgal Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

and alloys is very high and build rate is very slow. 3D metal printer
consists an energy source such as laser or electron beam for the
purpose of melting metallic feedstock either in the form of powder
or wire. Melted material is used then to print metal and alloy layer
by layer on top of each other according to 3D CAD model to form
solid model. Mostly used method for metal and alloy printing is
powder bed fusion (PBF) and direct energy deposition (DED), bin-
der jetting, laminated object manufacturing (LOM), cold spraying,
friction stir welding, direct metal writing and diode-based pro-
cesses etc [1,11].

2.3. Biomaterials

Biomaterials are the mostly used materials in health care sec-

tors to manufacture products as per needs. Additive manufacturing Fig. 4. 3D printed artificial trachea [12].

also plays crucial role in this sector as the availability of 3D print-

ing at low cost increases. Recent studies shows that the use of bio-
materials in additive manufacturing increases because
advancements in the field of 3D printing occurs such as improved
printing precision, printing speed, ability to print complex struc-
tures, reduced cost and wastage of materials and many more.
These advancements in additive manufacturing technology allows
the huge advances in medical field in the form of advances in med-
ical equipment, cell printing and implant materials. On the basis of
patient’s computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) data, direct printing of defected site can be achieved
with the help of 3D printing technology [12,13]. This is possible by
following some steps such as first of all capture the area of interest
from the medical imaging then next step is creation of 3D geome-
try from the dataset specific to the area of interest after that trans-
form 3D object to a file ready for printing then next step is to select
appropriate 3D printer and at last select the appropriate use of
material. There are number of applications where 3D printing tech-
nology used in health care sectors either in personalized scaffold
printing, organ model printing [14], tissue engineering and den-
tistry etc. There are number of biomaterials are available which
can be used in additive manufacturing technology. Mostly used
biomedical materials in additive manufacturing are biomedical
metal materials (stainless steel for dental implants, Ti alloy,
metal-containing nylon mixture, tantalum alloy and cobalt-
chromium alloy etc), biomedical polymer materials (polyether
ether ketone (PEEK), collagen, chitosan, and fibrin) and biomedical
ceramic materials (tricalcium phosphate (TCP) and hydroxylap-
atite (HA) are mostly used ceramics in health care sector).
All these materials posses good bio-compatibility and fulfil all
required medical standards (Figs. 3 and 4) [12,15]. Mostly used
additive manufacturing methods in health care sectors are stere-
olithography (SLA), binder jetting, polyjet, selective laser sintering
(SLS), fused deposition modelling (FDM), laser assisted bio-
printers, laser free bio-printers and many more 3D printing meth-
ods are used [14–16].
2.4. Composites
Composites are the combination of two or more constituent
materials having different physical and chemical properties. Com-
posites have improved mechanical, physical and chemical proper-
ties as compared to its individual material properties. Composites
can also be printed with the help of 3D printers and the use of com-
posites in additive manufacturing increases due to its low cost,
ease of availability, enhanced properties and also cost-effective
product customization with high accuracy as compared to tradi-
tional methods. Composites have wide range of applications now
a days such as in production, electronics, aerospace, biomedical,
structural, sporting, wearable and automobiles etc. (Fig. 5) [1,17].
Recent researches got success in the fabrication of wide range of
composites and there are different types of composite materials
are available and some of the types are also available in the market,
types of composite materials are particle reinforced composites,
natural fiber-reinforced composites, synthetic fiber-reinforced
composites, nanomaterial reinforced composites, ionic polymer-

Fig. 3. 3D printed prepared teeth using SLS, printed by using data from an intra oral
scanner [15]. Fig. 5. 3D printed multi-walled carbon nanotube-based nanocomposite [1].

3
A. Bhatia and Anuj Kumar Sehgal
metal composites, graphene-based composites and lightweight
cellular composites and many more. These are the types and under
these types large number of composite materials are available. In
order to print composite materials different types of additive man-
ufacturing methods are available such as fused deposition mod-
elling (FDM), direct ink writing (DIW), stereolithography (SLA),
selective laser sintering (SLS), liquid deposition modelling (LDM),
fused filament fabrication (FFF), laminated object manufacturing
(LOM) and composite-based additive manufacturing (CBAM) etc
[18–22].
2.5. Ceramics
Ceramic materials are hard, brittle, heat resistant and corrosive
resistant material. Additive manufacturing of ceramic materials is
mostly used in Aerospace, Automotive industries and in health care
sector including dentistry and bone tissue engineering etc. Ceramic
materials used to print scaffold for bones and teeth, mostly used
ceramic bio-materials are tricalcium phosphate (TCP) and hydrox-
ylapatite (HA).
Ceramics in additive manufacturing technology used in the
form of slurry-based feedstock, powder based feedstock and bulk
solid-based feedstock. In slurry-based ceramic additive manufac-
turing consists liquid or semi-liquid systems dispersed with fine
ceramic particles as feedstock. In powder-based ceramic additive
manufacturing mainly used powder beds which contains loose
ceramic particles as feedstock. In bulk solid-based ceramic additive
manufacturing is inspired by laminated object manufacturing and
ceramic material used are tape-cast alumina, zirconia green sheets,
silicon carbide, silicon–silicon carbide composite, glass–ceramic
composite and lead zirconate titanate (PZT) etc. Additive manufac-
turing methods to print powder based, slurry based and bulk solid-
based ceramic materials are stereolithography (SLA), two-photon
polymerization, Inkjet printing and direct ink writing, three-
dimensional printing, digital light processing (DLP), selective laser
sintering (SLS), selective laser melting (SLM), laminated object
manufacturing (LOM) and fused deposition modelling (FDM) and
many more 3D printing methods are available to print ceramics
(Fig. 6) [1,23,24].
2.6. Building materials
Concrete is the most common material which is used in the con-
struction industry for building homes, bridges, offices and multi-
story buildings etc. Every construction industry use concrete
with reinforced steel bars to provide strength and stability to the
Fig. 6. 3D printed Polymer-derived ceramics [1]
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Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
buildings. Traditional construction methods are effective but
require heavy budget, more man power, time and also wastage
of material occurs. Additive manufacturing also is an emerging
field of technology in this sector and provide lots of benefits.
Recent studies proved that 3D printing of concrete for building
homes, offices and bridges etc is possible by using available print-
ing methods and materials (Fig. 7).
Concrete is the main and most important material known for
construction till date, but we can enhance the properties of con-
crete by using different combinations of sand, cement, hydraulic
cements, flyash, micro-fibres, silica-fumes and also by maintaining
water to cement ratios (w/c) which helps to provide boost to its
strength and helps to maintain its greatest buildability of the
printed concrete etc [25–27]. Additive manufacturing have ability
to print complex structures, which helps construction sectors a
lot because some of the building designs are complex and difficult
to construct (Fig. 8).
Concrete printing is really a game changing technology which
helps to reduce the wastage of materials, reduce the cost required
to construction of buildings, reduce man power and also reduce
wastage of time. Additive manufacturing is revolutionize the con-
struction sector because of its game changing abilities, we can
print buildings on moon, mars and outer space with the help of this
technology. Additive manufacturing of building materials only pos-
sible with the help of different types of available additive manufac-
turing methods but these methods are categorized into two
techniques by most of the literatures i.e binder jetting and material
deposition methods. Binder jetting is a method to create objects by
depositing binder on top of each layer of a powder bed. Material
deposition methods consist their core fabrication process such as
contour crafting, digital construction platform, stick dispenser,
concrete printing, minibuilders, flow-based fabrication, mesh
mould and building information modelling etc. (Fig. 9) [26,28].
2.7. Food printing materials
Additive manufacturing technology not only limited to the
industries, it also have ability to print food materials by using
available 3D printing methods and we can even eat printed food.
Food sector is revolutionized with the commercial implementation
of 3D food printing technology and recent advancements enhance
this technology and provide lots of benefits such as reduce wastage
of food materials, personalization to individual consumer need, 3D
printing of novel structures and shapes, automation of the food
Fig. 7. SiC parts prepared by SL on pre-ceramic polymers. Comparison of printed
and sintered samples (bottom) [24]
A. Bhatia and Anuj Kumar Sehgal Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 8. 3D printed house by Winsun [1].

Fig. 10. Chocolate with plant sterol powder and different infill patterns [32].

natively extrudable inks cannot be extruded with the help of a

printer nozzle in its raw form, some more steps are needed to make
a printable food ink and this category consists plants (fruits, veg-
etables and algae) and meat (Fig. 10) [31,32].

2.8. Smart Materials

Smart Materials are the materials having ability to change their

significant properties like shape, colour and size with the change in
Fig. 9. 3D printed Castilla-La Mancha 3D bridge [28].
light, temperature, heat and stress with respect to time. Smart
materials also have ability to describe smartness like shape mem-
ory, self-sensing, self-evolving, decision making, self-adaptability,
production process and many more. Food printing is easy to use
self-assembly, self-actuating, water absorption, self-degradation
technique which enables the consumer to print food individually
and commercialization of food printing technology boosts small
scale (cafes, bakeries and restaurant) food production and indus-
trial scale food production.
In case of large scale food production, it is a challenge to main-
tain food quality and also mass production of food in less time
because this process is time consuming and open a research area
for researchers to focus not only on developing methods for mass
production of food but also focus on nutritional attributes and food
quality which includes food material properties appropriate for
such industrial scale food production [29–31]. American Society
of Testing and Materials (ASTM) group identified four categories
of additive manufacturing of food materials, namely material jet-
ting, powder bed fusion through selective laser sintering, material
extrusion and binder jetting. Food printing has ability to print food
with different materials, texture and complex structure. Additive
manufacturing of food used ‘food inks’ as a feedstock, food inks
is a final form of printable edible substances and these substances
are prepared from one or more raw materials and the final form of
these substances are looks like paste or gel which can be extruded
with the help of printer nozzle and these food inks are further
grouped into two broader categories i.e non-natively extrudable
and natively extrudable. Natively extrudable inks are easily
extruded with the help of a nozzle and this category consists con- Fig. 11. Transformation of a structure from 1D to 3D with water absorption
fectionery (chocolate, dough etc), hydrogels and dairy. Non- materials, printed by Massachusetts institute of Technology (MIT) [34].

5
A. Bhatia and Anuj Kumar Sehgal
and multiple functionalities of the material or mixtures. Water
absorption capabilities of a material to produce 4D printed struc-
tures is recently introduced by a research group of Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) has printed multimaterials having
ability to change its shape underwater as shown in Fig. 11.
3D printing of smart materials are also possible and known as
4D printing. Smart materials are available in the form of single
smart materials and mixture of smart and conventional materials.
Smart materials have wide range of applications and we can better
understand about smart materials with the help of its real time
use, so the first application is self-construction structures (contain-
ers, surface curving, lockers and safe boxes), self-assembled satel-
lite components, personal responsive products, active origami
structures, smart grippers, splints as shown in Fig. 12, intravascular
stents, biomedical devices, microfluidic devices, shape morphing
devices, steerable locomotion, vibration controls, metamaterials,
soft robotics (shape changing actuators, hydraulic and pneumatic
actuators), wearable electronics, tissue engineering and drug deliv-
ery devices etc and all these applications are on the basis of recent
researches [33–36].
Additive manufacturing technology helps researchers to under-
stand the behavior of smart materials after printing with the help
of 3D printers and also its possible applications for real time use. As
the improvement and discoveries increases in 4D printing technol-
ogy the use of 4D printing in the industrial sectors also increases.
4D printing technology is widely used in aviation sector, automo-
tive sector, health care sector, robotics, aerospace, defense, art
and textile etc. 3D bioprinting is mostly used in health care sector
to print living biological 3D structures such as tissues, organs,
nutrients and cells, this is also an emerging branch of tissue engi-
neering because of its ability to mass produce of tissue engineered
products, ability to fabricate cell density tissue and have high accu-
racy in positioning the various type of cells. Recently a new tech-
nique is introduces called 4D printing or laser-assisted
bioprinting and this is the high-resolution biological technique as
compared to another bioprinting technique. In 4D bioprinting a
category called 3D printing of smart hydrogels are there and the
fabricated 4D bio printed structures or bio-origami hydrogel scaf-
fold have ability to self-fold and self-unfold in response to external
stimulus. 4D printing also helps to fulfill the challenging need of
smart medical devices as per the individual patient’s need in the
worst time of COVID-19 pandemic. 4D printing is used in COVID-
19 pandemic time and helps to manufacture 4D printed smart face
masks, 4D printed smart sanitizing devices, 4D printed smart gog-
gles for doctors, 4D printed smart ventilator parts etc. There are
wide range of smart materials are available such as enhanced
smart nanocomposites (composite of piezoelectric nanoparticles
and photo liable polymer), shape memory alloys (nickel titanium
alloy (NiTi)), shape memory polymers, actuator for soft robotics
Fig. 12. 3D printed poly-caprolactone tracheobronchial splint [34].
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Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
(composite of dielectric elastomer and rigid material), self-
evolving structures (composite of hydrophilic polymer and rigid
material), anti-counterfieting (composite of quantum dot suspen-
sion(mixture of quantum dots and photopolymer resin) and rigid
material), active-origami and controlled sequential folding (com-
posite of shape memory polymer fibers and elastomeric matrix
composite of shape memory polymer and rigid material), smart
hydrogels, carbon nanostructures, copolymers, viscoelastic ink,
nanoclay, glucose, PLA and graphene, resins, ceramics monomers
UV-responsive materials and acrylamide monomer etc. There are
number of additive manufacturing methods are present to print
smart materials like digital projection printing (DPP), selective
laser sintering (SLS), selective laser melting (SLM), fused deposition
modelling (FDM), Inkjet printing, stereolithography (SLA), multi jet
modelling (MJM), electron beam melting (EBM), digital light pro-
cessing (DLP), and Polyjet and many more methods are used
[36–38].
2.9. Other materials
Additive Manufacturing have ability to print some other mate-
rials such as glass, wood, photopolymers or light activated resin
and cellulose materials. For the additive manufacturing of glass
fused deposition modelling (FDM) technique is used but its a chal-
lenging task because of its operating temperature which affects the
printing process of FDM. Printed samples of glass is of poor quality
because its low precision, low mechanical strength, low tensile
strength due to which the final product do not fulfill the industrial
standards[3]. Another material is cellulose which is the important
structural component of cell wall and a renewable biopolymer.
These materials are used in textile industry, health care sector,
electronics industry and responsive wearable textiles etc. There
are number of cellulose materials are available in the market in
the form of lignocellulose such as microcrystalline cellulose
(MCC), cellulose nanofibrils (CNF), cellulose nanocrystalline (CNC)
and bacterial cellulose (BC) etc. Some other materials having cellu-
lose content also used as a cellulosic material reinforced plastic fil-
ament for fused deposition modelling (FDM) and such materials
are Wood floor/PLA (5% cellulose material content), Micro-
nanocellulose/PLA (0–30% cellulose material content), ColorFabb
recycled wood floor/PLA (15% cellulose material content), Cellulose
fibre/PLA (0–20% cellulose material content), cellulose hydrogels
and Cellulose nanocrystals/polyvinyl alcohol (2–10% cellulose
material content) etc. These materials printed with the help of
fused deposition modelling (FDM), direct ink writing (DIW), micro
extrusion 3D bioprinting, stereolithography (SLA) and laminated
object manufacturing (LOM) [6]. Photopolymer is another material
which is used in additive manufacturing. Photopolymer materials
are light sensitive materials and also known as light-activated
resin. On the basis
of photochemistry 3D printing only monomers, photoinitiating
systems and oligomers are printable materials. These materials
printed with the help of digital light processing (DLP), streolithog-
raphy (SLA), inkjet printing and direct ink writing (DIW) [39,40].
Another material is wood and there are three ways suggested to
bring wood to 3D printing i.e. 3D printed wood like products, wood
filled (lignocellulosic) filaments and microtomography and 3d
printing for wood self-replicating Another way to print wood is
by using a filament which is a mixture of PLA pellets and recycled
wood-based material which is received from the furniture manu-
facturing companies. Fused filament fabrication method is used
in for printing this filament and a good area of research is open
for researchers to develop new strategies to print wood so that fur-
niture waste can be utilize in 3D printing and manufacture a wood-
based product [41–44].
A. Bhatia and Anuj Kumar Sehgal Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 1
Summary of additive manufacturing material, methods and applications.

Sr. Types of Additive Manufacturing Materials
No. Materials
1 Polymers ABS, Nylon, ASA, HIPS, PET, PLA, PC, PETG,
PEEK, TPC, MABS etc.
2 Metals and Titanium and its Alloys, Nickel based Alloys,
Alloys Sterling Silver, Stainless and Tool Steel,
Aluminium Alloys, Brass, Copper, Gold,
Platinum and Bronze etc.
3 Biomaterials Biomedical Metal Materials, Biomedical
Polymer Materials and Biomedical Ceramic
Materials etc.
4 Composites Particle Reinforced Composites, Natural Fiber-
Reinforced Composites, Synthetic Fiber-
Reinforced Composites, Nanomaterial
Reinforced Composites, Ionic Polymer-Metal
Composites, Graphene-based Composites and
Lightweight Cellular Composites etc.
5 Ceramics Tape-cast Alumina, Zirconia Green Sheets,
Silicon Carbide, Silicon-Silicon Carbide
Composite, Glass-Ceramic Composite and
Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) etc.
6 Building Concrete including different combinations of
Materials sand, cement, hydraulic cements, flyash,
micro-fibres, silica-fumes and also by
maintaining water to cement ratios (w/c) etc.
7 Food Food inks {[natively extrudable
Printing (confectionery (chocolate, dough), dairy and
Materials hydrogels) and non-natively extrudable
(meat and plants (fruits, vegetables and
algae))]}
8 Smart Enhanced smart nanocomposites, Shape
Materials memory alloys, Shape memory polymers,
Self-evolving structures, Active-origami,
Smart hydrogels, Carbon nanostructures,
Copolymers, Viscoelastic ink, Nanoclay,
Glucose, PLA and Graphene, Resins and
acrylamide monomer etc.
9 Other Glass, Wood, Photopolymers or Light
Materials Activated Resin and Cellulose Materials etc.
Additive Manufacturing Methods Applications References
FDM, SLA, LOM etc. Health care sector, Aviation [1,2,4,8–10]
industry, Automotive industry,
Fabrication of toys, Electronics
industry etc.
PBF, DED, Binder Jetting, LOM, Cold Spraying, Aerospace industry, Aviation [1,11]
Friction Stir Welding, Direct Metal Writing industry, Automotive industry,
and Diode-Based Processes etc. Health care sector and Defence
etc.
SLA, Binder Jetting, Polyjet, SLS, FDM, Laser Health care sector. [12–16]
Assisted Bio-printers and Laser free Bio-
printers etc.
FDM, DIW, SLA, SLS, LDM, FFF, LOM and CBAM Production, Electronics, [1,17–22]
etc. Aerospace, Health care sector,
Structural, Sporting, Wearable
and Automobiles etc.
SLA, DLP, Two-photon Polymerization, Inkjet Health care sector, Aerospace, [1,23,24]
printing and Direct Ink Writing, Three- Automotive industry etc.
dimensional Printing, SLS, SLM, LOM and FDM
etc.
Binder Jetting and Material Deposition Construction industry and also [25–28]
Methods (contour crafting, digital this technology helps to
construction platform, stick dispenser, Construct complex structures on
concrete printing, minibuilders, flow-based Moon, Mars and Outer Space etc.
fabrication, mesh mould and building
information modelling etc)
American Society of Testing and Materials Food Sector including small scale [29–32]
(ASTM) group identified four categories of and industrial scale food
additive manufacturing of food materials, production.
namely Material Jetting, Material Extrusion,
Powder Bed Fusion through Selective Laser
Sintering and Binder Jetting.
DPP, SLM, SLS, FDM, Inkjet printing, SLA, MJM, Aviation industry, Automotive [33–38]
EBM, DLP, and Polyjet etc. industry, Health care sector,
Robotics, Aerospace, Defense, Art
and Textile etc.
DLP, SLA, Inkjet Printing, FFF, DIW FDM, micro Furniture printing, Textile [3,39–43]
extrusion, 3D bioprinting and LOM etc. industry, Health care sector,
Electronics industry and
Responsive wearable textiles etc.

3. Conclusion of manufacturing industries, health care sectors, food sectors and

construction industries etc.
In this review (Table 1) we discuss in detail about wide range of
materials and methods used in additive manufacturing. Materials
CRediT authorship contribution statement
which are most commonly used such as polymers, metals and
alloys, composites, concrete, ceramics to the materials which are
Akash Bhatia: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Writ-
under development stages such as biomaterials, food printing
ing - review & editing. Anuj Kumar Sehgal: Data curation, Writing
materials, smart materials, glass, resin and wood are discussed in
- original draft.
detail with their respective 3D printing methods
Every material has different mechanical and chemical proper-
ties due to this every material have different applications in indus- Declaration of Competing Interest
trial sectors. Additive manufacturing has capability to
revolutionize industrial sectors by using its ability to print all these The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
discussed materials at affordable cost. Recent studies shows that cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
the cost of 3D printers reduced and its accuracy and precision is to influence the work reported in this paper.
improved. Advancements in additive manufacturing provide lots
of benefits such as reduced man power, reduced time wastage,
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