About

Go to Functionalize.com to Pre-Order F-Electric

3D printers let us do amazing things, but making your prints electronically functional is a hassle and requires a separate manufacturing process to add circuit boards, wiring, and electronic components. Wouldn't it be better to just print the electronics right on your 3D printer? There have been some conductive materials, but until now, they haven’t been conductive enough to light up an LED, let alone make complete circuits.



And Then There Was Light.

LED Flashlight Printed with F-Electric Filament on a 3D Printer

Breakthrough material: 1,000 times more electrically conductive

Introducing F-Electric, 3D printing filament from Functionalize. We 3D printed a first-of-a-kind key chain LED flashlight to demonstrate the world’s most electrically conductive printing filament enabling electronic or electromechanical capabilities.

LED Flashlight with F-Electric Printing on a 3D Printer

So what are you going build and 3D print with power?

With F-Electric, you can design electronic or electromechanical capabilities right into the structure of your parts. Seriously, you can 3D print complete electrical circuits, sockets, switches, buttons, and connectors in your 3D printed structures with motors, active components, and chips connected by plastic and placed with 3D printed precision, exactly where they make sense. It even works with today's 3D printers that print in PLA, so you don’t need a new kind of printer!

3D Circuit Board Used for Levitator

And, we’re just getting started… Imagine a world where you can 3D print your cell phone, Internet of Things sensors, drones, or latest in wearable fashion as fully functional devices, complete with circuits and electrical components. That’s where we’re going, and our F-Electric 3D filament is a major step forward in making this a reality. With our breakthrough nanomaterial production process and your creative mind, the sky is the limit in functionalizing the next wave of consumer electronic designs, prototypes and products.

Our Story

It started as a school science project with my son. We were building an electromagnetic rocket and 3D printed some of the components.

Mike's Son with the Rocket Launcher Project

Once we got to the soldering, we slowed to a crawl, so I assumed we could buy some printer or filament to let us 3D print the electronics as well. After searching for some time, I simply found nothing on the market that would let you print circuits and plastic 3D printed components.

I decided that this was a problem worth solving, immersed myself in the scientific literature and built a nanotech lab in my home to make graphene and experiment with nano-composite materials that I thought could work.

Mike's "Frankenstein Lab" from the Early Days

After intensive research and experimentation, I developed a formulation and production process that offered functional conductivity and 3D prints beautifully.

Today, we are able to extrude filament with a volume resistivity that measures under 1 ohm/cm (available conductive 3D filaments measure in the 1,000 - 10,000 ohm*cm range). As a result, Functionalize materials can be used to create a range of new, truly functional, 3D printable products that have electrical or mechanical capabilities.

Get Cool First-of-a-Kind Rewards

With your help, we can scale our production process and make F-Electric broadly available to the 3D printing community. Only during our Kickstarter, you can get the new F-Electric material as well as historic, limited-edition, 3D printed functional devices made with F-Electric For example, you can receive:

- a Functionalize 3D printed keychain Flashlight, Mike’s first product design used to demonstrate that F-Electric can easily carry enough power for LEDs.

- a Functionalize 3D printed, electro-magnetic Lockbox for keepsakes, which uses a conductive key to complete a circuit and open the lockbox.

- a Functionalize 3D printed electro-magnetic Levitator, which contains printed circuits that demonstrate F-Electric’s ability to conduct sufficient power to suspend a magnetic object in mid-air!

These limited edition 3D printed, functional objects are Mike’s original designs, made to demonstrate how F-Electric 3D filament can be used make circuits and power motion. Mike will sign and number each of these first-of-a-kind product only during this Kickstarter.

Note: Functionalize Kickstarter rewards will be delivered in the first quarter of 2015. See rewards information for specific details.

Accelerating the Personal Industrial Revolution

Conductive materials are just the start. Our nanomaterials production process can be used to create other new materials that enable even more functional 3D printed objects. We want to hear from you, whether you’re a maker, inventor, scientist, entrepreneur, or 3D printer company, on how we can best bring F-Electric and other new materials to market. Contact us at info@functionalize.com