Abstract
In this research, the curing degree of an acrylate-based monomer using direct UV-assisted writing technology was characterized by differential photo calorimetry (Photo-DSC) to investigate the curing behavior. Triggered by the UV light, the duo function group monomer 1,6-Hexamethylene diacrylate (HDDA), photoinitiator 1173 and photoinhibitor exhibit a fast curing process. The exothermal photopolymerization reaction was performed in the isothermal mode in order to evaluate the different thermal effects that occurred during the photopolymerization process. The influences of both UV light intensity and exposure time were studied with single-factor analysis. The results obtained by photo-DSC also allow us to perform the kinetic study of the polymerization process: The results show that, for the reaction, the higher the UV intensity, the higher the curing degree together with faster curing speed. At the same time, the effect of the heat released during the exothermic reaction is negligible for the polymerization process. When increasing the exposure time, limited improvement of curing degree was shown, and the distribution is between 65–75%. The reaction enthalpy and related curing degree work as a function of time. The Avrami theory of phase change was introduced to describe the experimental data. The functions of a curing degree with light intensity and exposure time were achieved, respectively.
Highlights
Additive manufacturing (AM) has achieved significant progress in recent years and has been successfully applied in a variety of industries
The results obtained by photo-DSC allow us to perform the kinetic study of the polymerization process: The results show that, for the reaction, the higher the UV intensity, the higher the curing degree together with faster curing speed
Thermal properties and curing kinetics were characterized for the customized photosensitive resin
Summary
Additive manufacturing (AM) has achieved significant progress in recent years and has been successfully applied in a variety of industries. The direct writing (DW) process is one of the most potential AM processes for fabrication due to its compatibility with a variety of functional materials [2]. Ultraviolet (UV)-assisted direct writing, with the advantages of fused filament fabrication (FFF) and stereolithography (SLA), improves the printing speed and the parts’ quality based on its curing mechanism. The fast curing and energy-saving properties elicit enormous attention in industries. The resin formed via UV initiated polymerization is of great importance due to its wild applications in a variety of fields ranging from coatings [4], dental materials [5], sportswear [6] to aerospace industries [7]. The main advantages of UV-curable resin in comparison with the conventional
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