Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Reprocessed Polylactide/Titanium Dioxide Nanocomposites for Material Extrusion Additive Manufacturing
Bergaliyeva S. Sales D.L. Jiménez Cabello J.M. Burgos Pintos P. Fernández Delgado N. Marzo Gago P. Zammit A. Molina S.I.
August 2023Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
Polymers
2023#15Issue 16
Polylactic acid (PLA) is a biodegradable polymer that can replace petroleum-based polymers and is widely used in material extrusion additive manufacturing (AM). The reprocessing of PLA leads to a downcycling of its properties, so strategies are being sought to counteract this effect, such as blending with virgin material or creating nanocomposites. Thus, two sets of nanocomposites based respectively on virgin PLA and a blend of PLA and reprocessed PLA (rPLA) with the addition of 0, 3, and 7 wt% of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2) were created via a double screw extruder system. All blends were used for material extrusion for 3D printing directly from pellets without difficulty. Scanning electron micrographs of fractured samples’ surfaces indicate that the nanoparticles gathered in agglomerations in some blends, which were well dispersed in the polymer matrix. The thermal stability and degree of crystallinity for every set of nanocomposites have a rising tendency with increasing nanoparticle concentration. The glass transition and melting temperatures of PLA/TiO2 and PLA/rPLA/TiO2 do not differ much. Tensile testing showed that although reprocessed material implies a detriment to the mechanical properties, in the specimens with 7% nano-TiO2, this effect is counteracted, reaching values like those of virgin PLA.
additive manufacturing , material extrusion , nanocomposite , polylactic acid , recycling , titanium dioxide
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Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering and Inorganic Chemistry, Algeciras School of Engineering and Technology, Universidad de Cádiz, INNANOMAT, IMEYMAT, Ramón Puyol Avenue, Cádiz, Algeciras, 11202, Spain
Physics and Technology Department, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, 71, Al-Farabi Avenue, Almaty, 050040, Kazakhstan
Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering and Inorganic Chemistry, Universidad de Cádiz, INNANOMAT, IMEYMAT, Campus Río S. Pedro, Cádiz, Puerto Real, 11510, Spain
Department of Metallurgy & Materials Engineering, University of Malta, Msida, MSD 2080, Malta
Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering and Inorganic Chemistry
Physics and Technology Department
Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering and Inorganic Chemistry
Department of Metallurgy & Materials Engineering
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