Nanoscale Features of Zeolite Fillers Enhance the Depth of Cure, Optical Properties, and Mechanical Properties of 3D-Printed Polymer Composite Structures

Abstract

3D printing provides the possibility for the preparation of structured zeolite nanomaterial monoliths, which can overcome the drawback of limited forms obtained from conventional shaping methods and make more efficient use of this material. Compared to other techniques, photopolymerization presents many advantages such as being environmentally friendly, having low energy consumption, and having excellent spatial and temporal controls. Nevertheless, a photocurable system with fillers still faces challenge for the light penetration issue. In this paper, the effect of different characteristics of LTA zeolite (crystal size and molar Si/Al ratio) are discussed. The results demonstrate that compared to microfillers, nanosized particles lead to better depth of cure (DOC), optical properties, and mechanical properties for the composites. Furthermore, the Si/Al ratio of LTA zeolites under study (1 ≤ Si/Al ≤ 2.8) also has an impact on the DOC, optical property of the composites, and the photopolymerization conversion. 3D printed zeolite-embedded monoliths were tested for water vapor sorption in nanopores (60 °C, relative humidity = 50%). This work enables a better understanding toward the fabrication of zeolite nanomaterials/polymer based composites by photopolymerization. It will expand the potential applications for 3D printing and zeolite shaping for applications in several domains such as decontamination and catalysis and in the biomedical field.

Zeolite/Polymer Composites Prepared by Photopolymerization: Effect of Compensation Cations on Opacity and Gas Adsorption Applications

“…[27] These light sources cure the resin by either selectively exposing it to light, or by projecting an image of the 3D model onto the resin layer. Several works have been done by our team using visible LED light (Light-Emitting Diode) to fabricate structured zeolite adsorbents for adsorption [28][29][30] and ion-exchange [31] applications. However, adding fillers to the photopolymerizable resin will cause light penetration issues since the filler particles can reflect, absorb, or scatter the light.…”

“…PEGDA was selected as monomer in this work due to its high polymerization conversion, good compatibility with zeolite and improved light transmittance for the composite. [30] The effects of cations on the photopolymerization, the adsorption and optical properties (particularly the colorimetric properties) are studied.…”

Optimization of a Polymer/Zeolite-Based Composite Formulation Prepared via Photopolymerization under Near-UV/Visible Light

“…In recent works realized by our team, the zeolite content of LTA or FAU has reached 95 wt % using PEGDA as a monomer, BDMK as a photoinitiator, and toluene as solvent . The influence of the zeolite crystal size and Si/Al ratio on photopolymerization was studied, and the water vapor adsorption capacity of the printed monoliths was investigated . Inorganic binders such as Al 2 O 3 and SiO 2 were tested to improve the mechanical property of zeolitic monolith and introduce hierarchical porosity after calcination for different applications. , …”