FRIEDBERG, October 2017 – 3D-printing system manufacturer voxeljet has announced an expanded collaboration with Johnson Matthey, (JM), a global leader in sustainable technologies.

voxeljet has worked closely with JM to develop its 3D printing technology, tailoring their large format printers to JM’s specific powders and binder requirements. Coupled with a significant investment in R&D, JM is now leading the way in ceramic 3D printing, providing fast, innovative and cost effective solutions to customers.

JM is one of the most important and respected leaders in science and sustainable technologies. The company has significant experience in manufacturing catalysts and the optimisation of catalytic support media and has, for a number of years, been researching additive manufacturing (AM) techniques for printing ceramic powders. JM has been able to create complex additive manufactured designs, using voxeljet printers, to increase geometric surface area, lower weight, increase manufacturing efficiency and enable innovative designs that cannot be produced by other conventional methods.

Having tested various technologies, JM focused on binder jetting as it provides a faster, more scalable solution when compared with other AM technologies, making it the perfect economical solution for industrial applications.

Gareth Headdock, R&D Director at Johnson Matthey says, “voxeljet offers great possibilities in tailoring their large format 3D printing platforms to our specific powders and binder requirements. It has enabled us to develop our ceramic 3D printing capabilities to produce unique and innovative solutions for our customers.

“With this technology it is possible to produce complex and porous components with high print resolutions, excellent surface quality and strength comparable with conventional manufacturing. These parts are suitable for a variety of applications, including medical, automotive and aerospace.”

Dr. Samantha Thomas, Research Group Leader at Johnson Matthey says, “Today, with different scales of voxeljet printing, we have the flexibility to develop a number of products at a development scale, prove the concept at large scale through a prototyping printer, and then produce multi-tonne quantities at production level, all with the benefits of flexibility built in to the manufacturing design. With voxeljet´s broad product portfolio of different system sizes, a great level of productivity and scalability can be reached.”

voxeljet CEO Ingo Ederer: “Over the past years we´ve seen an increased demand for tailoring projects, specifically for different ceramic powders and have successfully developed solutions with JM for production. On the other hand, we´ve also shipped ceramic systems mainly used for B2C applications as well, so the business approaches are quite different. Our goal is to cooperate with JM, an experienced user and developer of different voxeljet platforms for ceramic powders, for specific tailoring projects in order to provide ideal solutions to our customers. “

Johnson Matthey is a global leader in science that enables a cleaner and healthier world, with over 200-years of sustained commitment to innovation and technological breakthroughs that improve the function, performance and safety of our customer’s products. Our science has a global impact in areas such as low emission transport, pharmaceuticals, chemical processing and making the most efficient use of the planet’s natural resources. Today more than 13,000 Johnson Matthey professionals collaborate with our network of customers and partners to make a real difference to the world around us. For more information, visit www.matthey.com.