3D Laser Micro‐ and Nanoprinting: Challenges for Chemistry

3D printing is a powerful emerging technology for the tailored fabrication of advanced functional materials. This Review summarizes the state‐of‐the art with regard to 3D laser micro‐ and nanoprinting and explores the chemical challenges limiting its full exploitation: from the development of advanced functional materials for applications in cell biology and electronics to the chemical barriers that need to be overcome to enable fast writing velocities with resolution below the diffraction limit. We further explore chemical means to enable direct laser writing of multiple materials in one resist by highly wavelength selective (λ‐orthogonal) photochemical processes. Finally, chemical processes to construct adaptive 3D written structures that are able to respond to external stimuli, such as light, heat, pH value, or specific molecules, are highlighted, and advanced concepts for degradable scaffolds are explored. It's all in print: Recent progress in micro‐ and nanoprinting by 3D laser lithography is highlighted and the critical chemical challenges identified. These include the design of functional photoresists for the generation of multifunctional nanostructures as well as the ability to write disparate material properties from one resist with different colors of light and the ability to conduct subdiffraction 3D lithography.