Yangtze River Delta G60 laser alliance guide
据悉，英国诺丁汉大学和巴西大学的科研人员报道了为激光烧结用聚合物粉末引入功能性的简便一步法路线, 新发现的塑料涂层赋予3D打印更多功能。 相关研究以“A facile one step route that introduces functionality to polymer powders for laser sintering”为题发表在《Nature Communications》上。
Laser sintering (LS) is an additive manufacturing (AM) technology that uses lasers to process polymer particles to create three-dimensional objects. Due to its ease of processing and thermophysical properties, polyamide-12 (PA-12) accounts for 95% of the polymer materials used in LS. This limits the functionality of the product, including the limited available colors. In addition, PA-12 items are prone to biofouling in humid environments. Therefore, a key challenge is to develop a low-cost path to introduce the required functionality for the PA-12. The researchers report a simple, clean, and scalable method for modifying PA-12 that utilizes supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) and free radical polymerization to produce functionalized PA-12 materials. An efficient, effective, and clean process was created to coat the PA-12 polymer particles used in the 3D printing process. These materials can be easily printed using commercial equipment. Researchers have demonstrated this potential by fabricating colored PA-12 materials and have shown that the same method can be used to create biofouling-resistant objects. The researched approach to material functionalization could open up important new applications for additive manufacturing.
Figure 1: ScCO2 polymerization and coating process.
The researchers demonstrated that the new process can provide two key functions: the ability of the new coating to add color, anti-mildew and antifungal properties to the printing process.
Figure 2: Selective laser sintering of color-coated PA-12 particles.
One of the most common commercial 3D printing techniques is powder bed fusion or laser sintering. In this process, a layer of free-flowing polymer powder is laid down and a laser melts the powder layer by layer under the guidance of a computer-generated design.
A new layer of powder is spread on top of the previous layer, and the laser melts the powder again while fixing the powder on top of the next layer. This process continues until the design part is complete, often involving thousands of layers.
Figure 3: Color mixing with SLS using PA-12 material coated with primary colors (CMYK).
Polyamide-12 (PA12) is a strong plastic that is commonly used in the 3D printing industry to print complex and delicate parts, often in the automotive or aerospace industries.
Scientists have demonstrated this with the key polymer (PA-12), which is ubiquitous in the industry. The new colored polymer powders work perfectly on existing commercial machines.
Figure 4: Development of biofilm-resistant materials for SLS by scCO2 polymerization and coating processes.
In summary, the study outlines an easy method for developing functional coatings on commercial PA-12 particles, which can then be printed by conventional LS methods. We have demonstrated that the coating powder has the appropriate external and internal properties required by LS, and use these materials to print color and abiotic fouling systems. Monochrome powders can be physically mixed and printed, and the color of the final object can be predicted. This method provides a feasible CMYK color mixing system for LS printers, which can open up a wide range of applications. On this basis, it was demonstrated that the same method can be used to introduce anti-biofilm functions, and the printed material significantly reduces the biofilm formation of various morphological and structurally different microorganisms.
Most importantly, an easy way to introduce desirable functionality into a commercial 3D printing system based on polymer powders was demonstrated, and the researchers believe that the same approach can also be used to provide a wide range of other desirable functions and properties to printed objects.
Paper Links:
Krumins, E., Crawford, L.A., Rogers, D.M. et al. A facile one step route that introduces functionality to polymer powders for laser sintering. Nat Commun 15, 3137 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47376-4
Welcome everyone to participate in the activities held by the Yangtze River Delta G60 Laser Alliance:
Application of laser intelligent manufacturing in new energy vehicles:
July 29-31, 2024, Hefei Fengda International Hotel, Anhui
Welcome to the conference and exhibition!