Micro-particle grafted eco-friendly polymer filaments for 3D printing technology

• Main Authors: Kumar Tiwary, Vivek, Arunkumar, P., Kulkarni, P.M.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: 3D Printing; Eco-friendly; FDM; Photo-degradation; Single Screw Extruder; TiO2 microparticles
• ISSN: 2214-7853; 2214-7853
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matpr.2020.05.573

One of the most common polymers used in material extrusion 3D printing is Acrylonitrile Butadeine Styrene (ABS). The research presented here explores the effect of reinforcing metallic powders on the tensile strength as well as the photo-degradation of ABS printing polymer. A comparison is made between pure ABS, three blends of ABS/TiO2 microparticles with the idea to see the effect of the additives on the tensile as well as its photo-degradation properties. Tensile tests on the specimens made with different percentages of infill showed that ABS reinforced with 10% TiO2 (by weight) resulted in the highest Strength of 20.54 MPa. The compounding of the ABS polymer with TiO2 and the irradiation to different intensities of ultraviolet (UV) light has confirmed photo-degradation of the polymer. The highest reduction in weight recorded being 0.081 g in 240 min at 64 W intensity. This promises a substantial reduction in the carbon footprint of the ABS polymer which is widely used for 3D printing but is non-biodegradable. The pilot experiments confirm that grafting TiO2 microparticles into the feedstock can improve the strength as well as degrade the polymer components by exposing them to UV light making them Eco-friendly.