In the present paper the electroless metallization of 3D printed devices using stereolithography is investigated. Two different photocurable resins from a commercial supplier and a self-formulated one are used as starting materials for printing. A first metal layer of NiP or Cu, obtained by an optimized pretreatment and plating process, is subsequently applied on the parts. The possibility of obtaining multilayers through the successive electrodeposition of different metals on the electroless treated parts is demonstrated as well. From the applicative point of view, the use of 3D printing, coupled with electroless deposition of mono or multilayers, can be employed to manufacture functional microstructures for use in the fields of microrobotics, MEMS, metamaterials and others. For this reason, the realization of a prototypical magnetic actuator is presented as an example of possible application.

The combination of 3D printing and wet metallization is a promising methodology for the manufacturing of functional microdevices able to carry out biomedical tasks in vivo. Following this approach, prototypical cell scaffolds are successfully manufactured in the present work. Functional layers are sequentially deposited employing electroless metallization on stereolitography 3D printed moveable structures. Final devices are characterized and magnetically actuated in a precise way using a novel rolling motion approach, which allows for a superior control over speed and position. From the living cells compatibility point of view, the scaffolds show good biocompatibility with fibroblasts after the application of a gold layer.

In this paper, additive manufacturing and wet metallization process are combined to fabricate three prototypes of differential electro-mechanical z-axis accelerometers. The smart combination of existing fabrication processes makes the proposed fabrication flow unique in the sensors field. The mechanical design of the three proposed devices exploits the threedimensionality of the 3-D-printing technique and the electrostatic differential readout is allowed thanks to the wet-metallization process of the printed structure. Experimental measurements show a very good agreement with theoretical predictions thus proving a good reliability of the proposed design flow and fabrication process. With their relative small footprints (minimum dimension in the order of hundreds of μm), good performances (sensitivity >12 fF/g, sub % linearity error up to 11 g of full scale and theoretical noise estimation of few tens of ng/√Hz) and high customizability, they represent an important step toward novel application fields of inertial sensors.