Effect of sodium hydroxide and acetone pretreatments on the adhesion of three-dimensional printed polylactic acid filaments on linen and polyester fabrics

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) printing on textile substrates is regarded as one of the most efficient methods to bond rigid polymers and soft fabrics to impart novel physical properties and extend the functionality of 3D printed objects. Although the feasibility and potential of such applications have been demonstrated, problems arise during the printing process due to the poor adhesion between the interface of the two materials. This means that usually some sort of pretreatment and/or post treatment needs to be done on the fabric, which is the focus of this paper. This study examines the effects of using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and acetone (C3H6O) as pretreatments to enhance the adhesion between printed polylactic acid (PLA) polymer and woven linen/polyester fabric samples. The results indicate that both NaOH and C3H6O can significantly enhance the adhesive force by 49.7% and 10.2% for the linen substrate and by 95% and 17.1% for the polyester substrate, respectively. As such, this paper reports on an effective approach to enhance the adhesion of 3D printed PLA on woven linen and polyester fabrics as well as providing more options for designing on fabric surfaces.