A.R. Mali, T. Uwaike, S. Obare, L. Zhang
University of North Carolina at Greensboro,
United States
Keywords: 3D printing, FDM, PLA, silica nanoparticles, polymer nanocomposite
Summary:
High Performance Silica Nanoparticles Reinforced PLA Nanocomposite using 3D Printing Method Abhijeet R. Mali 1, Torti Uwaike 2, Sherine Obare 1, Lifeng Zhang 2* *lzhang@ncat.edu 1 Department of Nanoscience, Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27401, USA 2 Department of Nanoengineering, Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering North Carolina A & T State University, Greensboro, NC 27401, USA Additive manufacturing (AM) has gained significant attention as a versatile and efficient technology to create complex structures with customized properties. Among AM techniques, fused deposition modeling (FDM) is one of the most widely used method to fabricate thermoplastic-based polymer composites because of its ease of use and cost-effectiveness. This study aims to develop high-performance polymer nanocomposites by reinforcing polylactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable polymer, with silica nanoparticles (SNPs) using FDM 3D printing. PLA/SNPs filaments of 1.75 mm diameter are prepared using an extruder by blending PLA with varying weight percentages of SNPs. Tensile test, flexural test, and impact test of 3D printed SNPs-reinforced PLA nanocomposite are performed, and the results are compared with 3D printed PLA composite without reinforcement of SNPs. Moreover, the thermal properties of these SNPs-reinforced PLA nanocomposites are investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA).The intention of study is to investigate potential of SNPs in improving mechanical properties of 3D printed PLA nanocomposites. This study points out the promising direction of using nanotechnology to optimize biodegradable polymer composites and develop lightweight and eco-friendly polymer nanocomposites using 3D printing approach for high-performance applications. Keywords: 3D printing, FDM, PLA, silica nanoparticles, polymer nanocomposite