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Cryogenic 3D printing is a collection of techniques which forms solid structures by freezing liquid materials while they are deposited. As each liquid layer is applied, it is cooled by the low temperature of the previous layer and printing environment which results in solidification. Unlike other 3D printing techniques, Cryogenic 3D printing requires a controlled printing environment. The ambient temperature must be below the material's freezing point to ensure the structure remains solid during manufacturing and the humidity must remain low to prevent frost formation between the application of layers. Materials typically include water and water-based solutions, such as brine, slurry, and hydrogels. Cryogenic 3D printing techniques include Rapid Freezing Prototype (RFP), Low-Temperature Deposition Manufacturing (LDM) , and Freeze-form Extrusion Fabrication (FEF).

There aren't many applications for printing entirely frozen 3D models, since they must be stored in low temperature environments to maintain their structure. As a result, Cryogenic 3D printing is typically described by researchers as a cheap and environmentally friendly method for prototyping designs for visualizing data. Cryogenic 3D printing has seen use in tissue engineering as a method for creating porous scaffolding. In 2002, it was shown that Low-Temperature Deposition Manufacturing of Poly (L-Lactic Acid) dissolved in a dioxane slurry could create porous scaffolds for bone-tissue growth by sublimating the printed structure. Hydrogels are another popular scaffold for tissue engineering, due to their high water content, and as a result recent applications of Cryogenic 3D printing have modeled structures with resolutions of ~200 μm.