Extrusion Based 3D Printing of Sustainable Biocomposites from Biocarbon and Poly(trimethylene terephthalate)

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) printing manufactures intricate computer aided designs without time and resource spent for mold creation. The rapid growth of this industry has led to its extensive use in the automotive, biomedical, and electrical industries. In this work, biobased poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) blends were combined with pyrolyzed biomass to create sustainable and novel printing materials. The Miscanthus biocarbon (BC), generated from pyrolysis at 650 °C, was combined with an optimized PTT blend at 5 and 10 wt % to generate filaments for extrusion 3D printing. Samples were printed and analyzed according to their thermal, mechanical, and morphological properties. Although there were no significant differences seen in the mechanical properties between the two BC composites, the optimal quantity of BC was 5 wt % based upon dimensional stability, ease of printing, and surface finish. These printable materials show great promise for implementation into customizable, non-structural components in the electrical and automotive industries.

Three-Dimensional Printed Polyamide 12 (PA12) and Polylactic Acid (PLA) Alumina (Al2O3) Nanocomposites with Significantly Enhanced Tensile, Flexural, and Impact Properties

“…TGA investigations have been performed to reveal the temperature stability of the different materials in this study under a nitrogen atmosphere [ 74 ]. Moreover, TGA graphs proved indirectly the nature of the different nanocomposites and the existence of the specific filler loading in each specimen, via the observed remnant material at temperatures where the polymer matrix (PA12 or PLA) has been totally decomposed.…”

3D Printing with Bacterial Cellulose-Based Bioactive Composites for Design Applications

“…The processes that save resources, recycle or upcycle products, or convert wastes into value-added products are globally in high demand in order to address the growing problems of Anthropocene (Dertinger 2020). One of the strategies adopted in the polymer industry is to increase the sustainability of design and manufacturing processes with the tendency to use solid or liquid biomass wastes in developing biopolymers or biocomposites (Diederichs et al 2021). The primary sources for such materials are often agricultural (Wang et al 2018), forestry (Demir et al 2015) or food industry wastes (Picard 2020).…”

“…The primary sources for such materials are often agricultural (Wang et al 2018), forestry (Demir et al 2015) or food industry wastes (Picard 2020). The surface characteristics, thermal, electrical or mechanical properties of biocomposite materials are altered through various agents that lead to biopolymer applications in various industries such as automotive, biomedical, electrodomestic, design or fashion industries (Diederichs et al 2021;You et al 2018).…”

“…Besides the pursuit of alternative materials that are compatible with nature, the focus in manufacturing processes has also shifted to additive manufacturing from computerized numerical control (CNC) machining or molding since the material deposition and tooling time are reduced when compared to traditional processes (Diederichs et al 2021). Additive manufacturing also enables the fabrication of complex geometries on a layer-bylayer basis with minimal or no post-print adjustments (Brans 2013).…”

“…3D printing is the most preferred form of additive manufacturing that has been gaining a lot of attention from the manufacturing industries. A great number of innovations have been made in this field in the last decades (Diederichs et al 2021).…”