The incorporation of nanomaterials has revolutionized the field of additive manufacturing. The combination of additive manufacturing technology with nanomaterials has significantly broadened the scope of materials available for modern and innovative applications in various fields, including healthcare, construction, food processing, and the textile industry. By integrating nanomaterials into additive manufacturing, the manufacturing process can be enhanced, and the properties of materials can be improved, enabling the fabrication of intricate structures and complex shapes. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the latest research on additive manufacturing techniques that utilize nanomaterials. It covers a wide range of nanomaterials employed in additive manufacturing and presents recent research findings on their incorporation into various categories of additive manufacturing, highlighting their impact on the properties of the final product. Moreover, the article discusses the potential of nanomaterial-based additive manufacturing technologies to revolutionize the manufacturing industry and explores the diverse applications of these techniques. The review concludes by outlining future research directions and focusing on addressing current challenges to enhance the overall efficiency and effectiveness of nanomaterial-based additive manufacturing. Graphical abstract

The scope for synthesis of new macro-RAFT agents (Z–C(S)S–(M)–R) by sequential insertion of monomers (M) ‘one at a time’ into an initial RAFT agent (Z–C(S)S–R) has been explored. The process is illustrated with the preparation of a styrene-N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) co-dimer macro-RAFT agent [(CH₃)₃C(CN)–CH₂CH(Ph)–CH₂CH(CONHiPr)–SC(S)–S-alkyl] by successive single unit monomer insertions into a cyanoisopropyl trithiocarbonate. Critical factors for success are a high transfer constant for the RAFT agent and a high rate of addition of the radical (R·) to monomer relative to further propagation. With these conditions satisfied, the rate of reaction is largely determined by the rate of R· adding to monomer. Initiator-derived by-products (Z–C(S)S–(M)–I) become an issue when R· is different from the initiator-derived radical (I·).