Design, Manufacturing and Applications of Polymer-Based Architected Cellular Materials by Direct Vat Photopolymerization: A Focused Review

Vat photopolymerization (VPP) enables the fabrication of polymer-based architected cellular materials with fine members, continuous surfaces, and internal geometries that are difficult to realize using many other polymer additive manufacturing processes. This focused narrative review considers directly fabricated, retained-polymer lattices produced by single-photon laser-scanning and projection VPP, including stereolithography (SLA), digital light processing (DLP), masked stereolithography (mSLA/LCD), projection micro-stereolithography (PµSL), and continuous projection variants. A Scopus search yielded a screened journal corpus of 461 articles for descriptive mapping, from which 195 records were selected purposively for detailed synthesis. The literature shows sustained growth in publication volume and broader representation of TPMS, auxetic, graded, hierarchical, biomimetic, non-periodic, composite, and multifunctional concepts. Across application domains, the recurring constraint is the coupling among architecture, photopolymer behavior, and manufacturing accuracy. Feature scale, separation, washing, post-curing, and defects can alter the as-built geometry and its function. Continuous progress will require component-scale validation, reproducibility, standardized reporting, durable materials with demonstrated recovery or end-of-life pathways, and workflows that connect design, process planning, metrology, performance, qualification, and end-of-life considerations.