Development of polymeric composite materials and prototypes with cork for large format additive manufacturing

Abstract

The ADICORK project is associated with an agreement between the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Sustainable Development of the Junta de Andalucía and the INNANOMAT research group of the University of Cádiz. It is oriented to the development of industrial applications with polymer-based composite materials based on cork, which allow the manufacture of innovative value-added products, using the technology of Large Format Additive Manufacturing. This technology makes it possible to manufacture high-volume industrial products, compared to the usual additive manufacturing technologies. Some of the polymer bases studied to develop the composite materials presented in this communication, within the framework of the indicated project, are ABS, PET-G, PLA and ASA. The incorporation of cork in the form of a microparticulate powder, properly processed, has made it possible to achieve improvements in certain properties of the composite materials and, in some cases, after carrying out a screening, in the particle size. Among the properties that have been improved, the mechanical and thermal ones stand out. With the methodology developed, it has been possible to obtain recyclable and more sustainable composite materials than the starting polymeric material. This type of technology has made it possible to obtain attractive and differentiated products of complex geometries, based on and inspired by the territorial and natural origin of cork and its collection, which by other types of manufacturing processes could be impossible or very expensive to create. The sectors in which these developments make sense are varied and in this communication we will focus on the presentation of prototypes developed with the composite materials developed for the furniture, lighting and habitat sectors.