3D Printing of Strong Lightweight Cellular Structures Using Polysaccharide-Based Composite Foams

Polysaccharides are attractive sustainable resources for the fabrication of advanced materials, but the assembly of these building blocks into complex-shaped structures combining the high strength and low weight required in many applications remains challenging. We have investigated and optimized th...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:ACS sustainable chemistry & engineering 2018-12, Vol.6 (12), p.17160-17167
Main Authors: Voisin, Hugo P, Gordeyeva, Korneliya, Siqueira, Gilberto, Hausmann, Michael K, Studart, André R, Bergström, Lennart
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
3D printing
Air-drying
Chemical Sciences
GREEN & SUSTAINABLE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Hybrid cellular material
Low weight
Material chemistry
Nanocellulose
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Polysaccharides are attractive sustainable resources for the fabrication of advanced materials, but the assembly of these building blocks into complex-shaped structures combining the high strength and low weight required in many applications remains challenging. We have investigated and optimized the rheological and mechanical properties of polysaccharide-based composite foams based on mixtures of methylcellulose (MC), cellulose nanofibrils (CNF), montmorillonite (MMT), and glyoxal and tannic acid. Such foams were found to be stabilized by the coadsorption of MC, CNF, and MMT at the air–water interface, while the complexation of the polysaccharides with tannic acid improved the foam stability. Tannic acid could also be used to tune and optimize the microstructure and the viscoelastic properties of the wet foam for direct ink writing of robust cellular architectures. Glyoxal had no noticeable effect on the properties of the wet foams but significantly enhanced the water resilience and stiffness of the lightweight material obtained after drying at ambient pressure and elevated temperatures with minimum shrinkage. The foams possessed a high porosity and displayed a specific Young’s modulus and yield strength that outperformed other biobased foams and commercially available expanded polystyrene. The strong and water-resilient 3D printed foams can be surface modified using, for example, aminosilanes, which opens up applications for air purification and thermal insulation.
ISSN:2168-0485
2168-0485
DOI:10.1021/acssuschemeng.8b04549