Fabrication of 3D printing extrusion-based Nylon 12/Bi2O3 composite filaments for thermal interface device application

Abstract

Fused deposition modeling (FDM), an additive manufacturing (AM) technique, is capable of printing electronic devices by employing functional filaments. Fabrication of polymer composite filament with active fillers seems promising for printing various electronic devices. This study is focused to fabricate functional Nylon 12 based composite filaments reinforced with Bismuth oxide(Bi 2 O 3) for AM technique. Bi 2 O 3 at variable concentration was reinforced within Nylon 12 matrix, 5 wt% of Polyethylene glycol (PEG) was mixed with each composition to enhance the flexibility of Nylon-12 composites. XRD and FTIR study confirmed the presence of Bi 2 O 3 within the Nylon12 while scanning electron microscope study (SEM) revealed the meticulous dispersion of Bi 2 O 3 particles within the polymer. The filaments displayed excellent improvement in thermal conductivity (TC) with the addition of semiconducting Bi 2 O 3 and the TC values complemented with theoretical models. There was significant improvement in tensile strength of filaments with addition of Bi 2 O 3 and produced refined FDM printed prototypes with minimum dimensional inaccuracies. This harnesses the potential application of 3D printed Nylon 12/Bi 2 O 3 composites in thermal interface devices for thermal management in electronic devices.