Unlocking ceramic 3D printing for next-generation chemical reactors

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have integrated binder jet additive manufacturing with an advanced post-processing method to fabricate leak-tight ceramic components, overcoming a key challenge of ceramic additive manufacturing.

While ceramic components perform exceptionally well in extreme environments — exhibiting high temperature resistance, chemical stability and mechanical strength — current methods of ceramic 3D printing fall short on scalability. This shortcoming limits their use in critical applications such as high-throughput chemical reactors, which are used for pharmaceutical or chemical processing, where large, leak-proof parts are essential. ORNL’s innovative solution provides a scalable method for creating complex ceramic structures by leveraging a robust joining technique that enables smaller 3D-printed pieces to be assembled to create the needed components.

“Ceramic 3D printing allows fabrication of intricate and high-performance components that are difficult to achieve with traditional manufacturing methods,” said lead researcher Trevor Aguirre with ORNL’s Extreme Environment Materials Process Group. “This advancement provides a validated methodology to produce high-quality components — and enable the development of next-generation reactors.”

The research team tested multiple design configurations to identify optimal structures that inherently support gas-tight integrity and developed post-processing techniques to enhance the bonding and sealing of ceramic segments.

Not only does the innovation help meet the increasing demand for large-scale components, but it also leverages cost-efficient binder jet additive manufacturing, or BJAM, where powder layers are fused with a binder to create solid objects. This method offers substantial economic benefits and paves the way for broader industrial adoption of ceramic additive manufacturing in other high-performance applications such as aerospace, among others.

This is the first known leak-tight joint fabricated using additive manufacturing methods, paving the way for scalable BJAM assemblies.

The ORNL team received SME’s 2025 Dick Aubin Distinguished Paper Award for this research, which recognizes significant contributions to additive manufacturing. The team also has related research published in the Ceramics International journal.

Additional ORNL researchers who contributed to this project include Dylan Richardson, Corson Cramer, Amy Elliott and Kashif Nawaz. The project was funded by DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy and by DOE’s Solar Energy Technologies Office. The Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, where this work was conducted, is supported by DOE’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office and acts as a nationwide consortium of collaborators focused on innovating, inspiring and catalyzing the transformation of U.S. manufacturing.

UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the DOE’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science. — Tina Johnson