Fabrication of ABS/Graphene Oxide Composite Filament for Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) 3D Printing

C Aumnate,P Potiyaraj,P Pattananuwat,A Pongwisuthiruchte

doi:10.1155/2018/2830437

C Aumnate, P Potiyaraj + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/2830437

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Abstract

Additive manufacturing, the so-called three-dimensional (3D) printing, is a revolutionary emerging technology. Fused filament fabrication (FFF) is the most used 3D printing technology in which the melted filament is extruded through the nozzle and builds up layer by layer onto the build platform. The layers are then fused together and solidified into final parts. Graphene-based materials have been positively incorporated into polymers for innovative applications, such as for the mechanical, thermal, and electrical enhancement. However, to reach optimum properties, the graphene fillers are necessary to be well dispersed in polymers matrix. This study aims to emphasise the interest of producing ABS/graphene oxide (GO) composites for 3D printing application. The ABS/GO composite filaments were produced using dry mixing and solvent mixing methods before further melt extruded to investigate the proper way to disperse GO into ABS matrix. The ABS/GO composite filament with 2 wt.% of GO, prepared from the solvent mixing method, was successfully printed into a 3D model. By adding GO, the tensile strength and Young’s modulus of ABS can be enhanced. However, the ABS/GO composite filament that was prepared via the dry mixing method failed to print. This could be attributed to the aggregation of GO, leading to the die clogging and failure of the printing process.

Highlights

Numerous 3D printing technologies are accessible, such as stereolithography apparatus (SLA), selective laser sintering (SLS), laminated object manufacturing (LOM), and fused filament fabrication (FFF). e FFF is considered to be the most commonly used and well-recognized technology for making functional prototypes
The usable materials are limited to thermoplastic polymers with appropriate melt viscosity
Graphene/polymer composite has been fabricated by introducing graphene akes into a conventional polymer that can be used for FFF printing applications

Summary

Introduction

Numerous 3D printing technologies are accessible, such as stereolithography apparatus (SLA), selective laser sintering (SLS), laminated object manufacturing (LOM), and fused filament fabrication (FFF). e FFF is considered to be the most commonly used and well-recognized technology for making functional prototypes. Numerous 3D printing technologies are accessible, such as stereolithography apparatus (SLA), selective laser sintering (SLS), laminated object manufacturing (LOM), and fused filament fabrication (FFF). In the FFF technique, a thermoplastic filament is melted and extruded through the nozzle, building up layer by layer onto the platform or build plate. E layers are fused together and solidified into final products. The usable materials are limited to thermoplastic polymers with appropriate melt viscosity. The melt viscosity should be adequate to allow extrusion, at the same time, suitable to provide structural supports [4, 6]. Even though the 3D printing technologies have attracted much attention over the past years, most of the published studies focused on the printing of pure polymer materials

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