Synthesis and Characterization of a Conductive Composite for 3D Printing Technology

Abstract

Iron oxide nanopowder/magnetite (Fe3O4) ornamented multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MW-CNTs) based composite polymer is prepared to improve some of the electrical properties of polymer named poly lactic acid (PLA). The oxidation of MWCNTs is performed to induce different functional groups like hydroxyl (-OH), carboxylic (-COOH) and carbonyl (-C=O) on the surface of MWCNTs. Co-precipitation synthesis method is used to produce iron magnetite (Fe3O4) nano powder with 2M HNO3 at 150°C temperature. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) is used to investigate the bonding properties of MWCNTs and the (Fe-O) and (Fe-OH) bond is also confirmed from the synthesized Fe3O4. The composite sample is prepared with PLA, functionalized MWCNTs and synthesized iron nano powder (Fe3O4) by our own designed melting and mixing system at 210oC fixed temperature. I-V analysis is carried out on 1wt%, 3%wt and 5%wt Fe3O4 with constant PLA/CNT composite to observe the electrical conductivity. All sample shows linear conductivity with the concentration of Fe3O4 nano powder.