Asking this because I’ve been thinking about resin printing and how a small layer of said liquid could, in theory, be used to make the prints faster and negate any problems regarding the FEP film (which can wrinkle, tear and be a hassle to clean when small pieces are stuck to it). The ideal liquid would have to be:
- Inert to UV light
- Not miscible with the resin
- Denser than 1.25g/cm³
Maybe the liquid doesn’t even need to have a small refraction, so long as the light doesn’t diffuse too much after going through ~1mm of it. That or doing some compensation on the print.
Ah, yes on the first count at least, though that criteria wasn’t on your bulleted list, I guess it was in the title.
That being said, UV breakdown might not be as concerning in the short term if the substance is removed fairly often. I wonder if a clear gelatin or glycerin layer would last long enough?
I’ve also seen resin-infused paper-like substrate layers of material like carbon fiber attempt to bypass the requirement of an FEP. Each print layer was a new sheet and once the print was done the un-cured material was blown away.