Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) printing manufactures intricate computer aided designs without time and resource spent for mold creation. The rapid growth of this industry has led to its extensive use in the automotive, biomedical, and electrical industries. In this work, biobased poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) blends were combined with pyrolyzed biomass to create sustainable and novel printing materials. The Miscanthus biocarbon (BC), generated from pyrolysis at 650 °C, was combined with an optimized PTT blend at 5 and 10 wt % to generate filaments for extrusion 3D printing. Samples were printed and analyzed according to their thermal, mechanical, and morphological properties. Although there were no significant differences seen in the mechanical properties between the two BC composites, the optimal quantity of BC was 5 wt % based upon dimensional stability, ease of printing, and surface finish. These printable materials show great promise for implementation into customizable, non-structural components in the electrical and automotive industries.
Highlights
Three-dimensional (3D) printing, an additive manufacturing technique, is rapidly gaining popularity due to reduced material requirements and tooling time, as compared to alternative processing methods
This work is a short communication on the adaption of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) blends from previous work and their combination of Miscanthus BC for extrusion-based 3D printing
The PTT blend when combined with 5 wt % BC was tougher than that of 10 wt % BC and was able to maintain better dimensional accuracy during the print, leaving a more visually appealing print
Summary
Three-dimensional (3D) printing, an additive manufacturing technique, is rapidly gaining popularity due to reduced material requirements and tooling time, as compared to alternative processing methods. Fused filament fabrication (FFF) is a relatively low-cost method of 3D printing that has extensive applications in industry, such as the biomedical [2] and aerospace [3,4] industries. FFF works off of the basic process of extruding a polymer-based filament through a heated nozzle to build parts layer-by-layer in the z-direction [6]. This process allows for high customization as the part shape is defined by a computer 3D model and is not limited by mold fabrication, as in the case of injection molding [7]
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