Ceramic materials are widely used in various industries owing to their excellent performance characteristics. Photocuring 3D printing technology has received significant attention owing to its fast curing speed and high spatial resolution. However, transforming photocurable materials into high-performance ceramics remains a significant challenge. This paper provides an overview of the main photocuring 3D printing technologies and analyzes modifications in two types of slurry systems. Various methods are used to improve the stability and rheology of ceramic particle-resin mixtures and optimize the precursor polymer system to produce high-precision, high-yield, lightweight, and complex ceramic components. Overall, this paper highlights recent advancements in functional ceramics and indicates the potential of photocuring 3D printing technology to produce advanced ceramics.

Ceramics have many applications in mechanics, electronics, aerospace, and biomedicine because of their high mechanical strength, high-temperature resistance, and excellent chemical stability. Three-dimensional (3D) printing is a fast, efficient, and intelligent technology that has revolutionized the manufacturing of complex structural parts. Among many ceramic 3D printing technologies, photopolymerization-based 3D printing techniques print out molded ceramic components with high molding accuracy and surface finish and have received widespread attention. This article reviews the current research status and problems experienced by three mainstream ceramic photocuring technologies, namely stereoscopic, digital light processing, and two-photon polymerization.

ZrB₂ based composites containing 10 vol.-% carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are synthesised by spark plasma sintering at temperatures ranging from 1600 to 18008C and at an applied pressure of 25 MPa. The effects of sintering temperature on densification behaviour, microstructural evolutions and mechanical properties are presented. Results indicate that ZrB₂-CNT composites fabricated at 16508C have the optimal combination of dense microstructure and properties. The fracture toughness is sensitive to the temperature change and reaches 7.2 MPa m^1/2 for the CNT toughened ZrB₂ ceramics, which is higher than the measured result for monolithic ZrB₂ (3.3 MPa m^1/2). The crack deflection and CNT pullout are the dominant toughening mechanisms.

The preparation of ceramic materials with complex porous structures through photopolymerization-based 3D printing requires the development of stable and printable slurries. In this study, zirconium acetylacetonate was incorporated into the thiol vinyl organosilicon prepolymer to create a photosensitive Si–Zr–O–C slurry. Regarding the natural bone structures and the Tyson polygon principle, a gradient pore structure was designed and then printed using a digital light processing 3D printer. After printing, the effects of sintering temperatures on the phase composition and structure of Si–Zr–O–C ceramics were systematically investigated. Subsequently, a comparative analysis of structure and properties was performed on sintered samples with different zirconium acetylacetonate contents. The results revealed that the sample containing 30 wt. % zirconium acetylacetonate exhibited a higher compressive strength of 9.70 ± 0.28 MPa and a lower room temperature thermal conductivity of 0.528 W m−1 K−1. This study confirmed the significant potential of using 3D printing technology to prepare Si–Zr–O–C precursor ceramics with a porous structure.