---
title: "MIT team develops low-cost 3D printed electrospray emitters"
url: https://www.voxelmatters.com/mit-team-develops-low-cost-3d-printed-electrospray-emitters/
date: 2026-06-10
modified: 2026-06-10
lang: en
author: "Joseph Caron-Dawe"
description: "Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have produced arrays of triaxial electrospray emitters using 3D printing — a fabrication approach that, according to the team, made the devices..."
categories:
  - "3D Printer Hardware"
  - "3D Printing Processes"
  - "AM Research"
tags:
  - "future"
image: https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/MIT-triaxial-electrospray-emitters-01-640x400.jpg
word_count: 344
---

# MIT team develops low-cost 3D printed electrospray emitters

[Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/mit-visiprint-tool-gives-3d-printing-users-accurate-visualization-before-production/) have produced arrays of [triaxial electrospray emitters](https://www.voxelmatters.com/mit-engineers-3d-print-electrospray-engine/) using 3D printing — a fabrication approach that, according to the team, made the devices possible in the first place.

Triaxial electrospray emitters apply high voltage to three concentric nozzles, simultaneously dispensing three immiscible liquids to generate a continuous stream of layered microdroplets. Those droplets can solidify into compound microparticles with distinct shells — structures suited for time-release drug delivery capsules, biosensors, and self-healing materials.

![MIT team develops low-cost 3D printed electrospray emitters](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/MIT-triaxial-electrospray-emitters-02-340x340.jpg)

Until now, producing miniaturized multi-emitter arrays of this type had not been reported in open literature, with conventional semiconductor cleanroom fabrication unable to achieve the required geometries at sufficiently small scales.

The MIT team, led by principal research scientist Luis Fernando Velásquez-García of MIT's Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL), used [vat photopolymerization](https://www.voxelmatters.com/utep-and-sandia-researchers-use-vat-photopolymerization-to-3d-print-gel-polymer-electrolytes-for-lithium-ion-batteries/) to print arrays of 16 nozzles within approximately one square centimeter. Individual printed layers measured just 25 micrometers in height, a fraction of the width of a human hair. The one-step process takes only a few hours from start to finished array.

“We couldn't make a device like this in a semiconductor cleanroom. This is only possible because they are 3D-printed,” said Velásquez-García.

## Design iteration as a manufacturing advantage

Each array contains a network of helical internal microchannels that distribute liquid uniformly across all 16 nozzles, keeping the footprint compact while preventing cross-interference between emitters. 

The team tested multiple architectures to identify optimal flow rates and voltages, finding that the viscosity of the middle liquid was the determining factor in microdroplet stability and layer consistency.

The ability to rapidly iterate on geometry proved central to the project's progress. “We were able to aggressively optimize the design because we could iterate in a much timelier manner. This ability to exquisitely refine designs is a key advantage of 3D printing,” Velásquez-García stated.

The research, conducted with lead author Bryan Ivan Quintanar-Abarca of the Technological Institute of Monterrey in Mexico, was [published in *Virtual and Physical Prototyping*](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17452759.2026.2676503). Future work will target smaller device dimensions and the integration of conductive and dielectric materials into the emitter arrays.