Effect of zinc oxide suspension on the overall filler content of the PLA/ZnO composites and cPLA/ZnO composites

Abstract

Abstract This work aimed to study the effect of zinc oxide (ZnO) filler suspension on the mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of polylactic acid (PLA)/ZnO and cPLA/ZnO. Fused deposition modelling, one of the additive manufacturing methods, was used to fabricate the PLA specimen. PLA was used as the main material in this project, and the ZnO suspension was added during the printing process. The speed of the dispenser (low speed = 1,000 rpm, medium speed = 1,400 rpm, and high speed = 1,800 rpm) was the parameter that was varied to control the filler content of the composite. All the samples underwent a tensile test to determine the mechanical properties, followed by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) test to analyse the fracture surface properties of the tensile test. SEM observations showed the PLA samples’ inherent smooth appearance, but the PLA/ZnO composite showed a rougher surface. PLA and cPLA composites showed an enhanced storage modulus but lower loss modulus than the pure samples. Because of the high thermal and electrical conductivity of carbon black and ZnO, cPLA composites had higher electrical and thermal conductivity than PLA composites.