Effects of powder properties on the 3D printing of BaTiO3 ceramic resins by stereolithography

Abstract

Stereolithography is a layer-by-layer building fabrication technique enabling production of advanced ceramic 3D shapes that are not achievable by other methods. Critical parameters of stereolithography are associated with the preparation of a ceramic resin exhibiting suitable rheological and optical properties, as well as tunable curing property to achieve the desired level of resolution of complex 3D parts. However, tailoring the cure depth for each layer is challenging for functional ceramics due to their high refractive index giving increased light scattering. Here, the stereolithography 3D printing of BaTiO3 ceramic resins is investigated by employing a desktop 3D printer (λ = 405 nm) and a commercial base resin. The effects of two BaTiO3 powders with different size distributions (one micro-sized powder with grains in the range 1–20 µm, and one agglomerated nano-sized powder in the range 60–100 nm), on the viscosity and curing characteristics of the ceramic resins were investigated. It is shown that the nano-sized powder resulted in increased viscosity, increased scattering, and reduced cure depth compared to the micro-sized BaTiO3 ceramic resin. In general, the cure depth decreased with increasing ceramic loading. Successful prints were obtained for an overcuring of at least 40% between layers to assure good adherence between the layers. The printing properties of the ceramic resins from both powders were suitable for printing green parts with 50 µm layer thickness.

Enhanced Mechanical Properties of PUMA/SiO2 Ceramic Composites via Digital Light Processing

“…Notably, the viscosity of the UDMA/SiO2 composite resin, with SiO2 constituting up to 37.5 wt%, demonstrated minimal variation in response to changes in spindle speed. This observation is indicative of a prevailing Newtonian behavior [46]. Figure 3a-d represent the SEM images of the PUMA/SiO2 composites with SiO2 con tents of 0, 16.7, 28.5, and 37.5 wt%, respectively.…”

“…Notably, the viscosity of the UDMA/SiO 2 composite resin, with SiO 2 constituting up to 37.5 wt%, demonstrated minimal variation in response to changes in spindle speed. This observation is indicative of a prevailing Newtonian behavior [ 46 ].…”