LAUSR

Let me explain what my views were on inkjet or 3D printing before I reviewed this book. For a number of years, I have kept a watching eye on the area, especially with regard to separation science. For some time, I have been somewhat concerned about the “overhyping” of the technique and the real lack of progress. I have put this down to a real problem in the printer’s resolution and the limited material availability. I have also noted that researchers haven’t, in my view taken advantage of the real advantage of 3D printing in its ability to make unique structures reproducibly, but have tended to make or copy existing structures that can be made today to a high precision using classical machining techniques. So, I was very keen to read this book. First of all, let me say that I do like books written by the people on the cover as opposed to a book composed of chapters from many different people and with only the editors mentioned on the cover. This book is written by the names on the cover. It is divided into eight chapters, so is easy to carry being only 250 pages in length. The authors start, apart from the preface, with a general chapter and introduction to 3D printing. This covers the terms used, the depth of the subject and a very useful time scale up to 2017 showing the developments, or lack of them! The chapter gives the reader a good introduction as to what to expect, the problems, and gives an insight as to the direction the authors are going to lead the reader. The first real chapter is on the 3D printing of microand macro-fluidic devices. As with all the chapters, it is well written and carries a good balance of diagrams that are well explained in the text. This chapter, however, does not explain, to me, the real advantage of 3D printing. A lot of what is discussed can and is done on conventional milling machines. Yes, 3D printing may have the potential to replace some of the conventional techniques, but this depends on the material requirements and precision that is required. The authors do make the point when they say, “a further increase in the 3D printing technique is required”. As with all chapters an extensive set of references is provided. The third chapter starts to move into my interest area of analytical chemistry. This chapter discusses 3D printed analytical detectors. It was interesting to read what has been and is being developed, but again I could not help but think that many of the structures described could have been made by a good convention machine shop. However, towards the end Bibliography 3D Prin ng in Chemical Sciences--Applica ons Across Chemistry Vipul Gupta, Pavel Nesterenko and Bre Paul Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, UK, 2019, pp 250 ISBN: 978-1-78801-440-3 GBP 159.00