Additive manufacturing of fiber-reinforced electrically driven precursors and their derived ceramics

4D printing of ceramics offers promising opportunities for fabricating innovative structures with dynamic functionalities, yet is hindered by limited actuation modes and poor mechanical performance. In this work, we develop a fiber-reinforced, electrically conductive precursor ink for 4D printing to enable multimodal actuation and enhanced mechanical robustness of derived ceramics. By synergistically introducing fiber phases, the printed precursors exhibited excellent electrical conductivity and tailored printability, achieving electrically triggered shape recovery in addition to thermal actuation. Meanwhile, mechanical properties of derived ceramics are enhanced by fiber phases and their directional alignment during the printing process. Additionally, further densification was conducted to reduce porosity and strengthen the ceramics via polymer infiltration and pyrolysis (PIP), thus improving the mechanical performance. The effects of fiber additions along with PIP parameters are evaluated through flexural tests, where the resulting ceramic composites exhibited increases of 413% in flexural strength and 376% in toughness compared to the reference group. This work could provide a scalable strategy to fabricate structurally complex and performance-reliable ceramics suitable for demanding engineering applications.