A process for the development, characterization and correlation of composite materials for 3D printing is presented, alongside the processing of a polymer-ceramic functional composite using fused deposition modeling (FDM). The composite was developed using acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) as the matrix material filled with barium titanate (BT) micro-powder up to 35 vol % (74.2 wt %). The ABS-BT composites exhibited a shear thinning behavior with increasing ceramic content. The composite was 3D printed into structural and functional test samples using FDM by adapting and optimizing the print parameters. Structural characterization revealed increasingly brittle behavior at higher filler ratios, with the ultimate tensile strength falling from 25.5 MPa for pure ABS to 13.7 MPa for the ABS-35 vol % BT composite. Four-point flexural tests showed a similar decrease in flexural strength with increasing ceramic content. Functional characterization revealed an increase in the relative permittivity at 200 kHz from 3.08 for pure ABS to 11.5 for the composite with 35 vol % BT. These results were correlated with the Maxwell-Garnett and Jayasundere-Smith effective medium models. The process described in this work can be used for other 3D printing processes and provides a framework for the rapid prototyping of functional composites into functional parts with reliable properties. The ABS-BT composite shows promise as a functional dielectric material, with potential applications as capacitors and light-weight passive antennas.
Optical waveguides were fabricated on flexible foil substrates by ink-jet printing, to complement and enhance printed flexible electronics with optical networks. The 145 μm wide and 20 μm high transparent polymer tracks were created by printing subsequent tracks of an acrylate ink on polymer foil. A printable, optically transparent material was prepared by a combination of an acrylate resin with a low-viscosity, co-polymerising acrylate. This solved the problem of solvent evaporation for substrates with low heat tolerance. Thermally induced pinning, used to prevent the ink from spreading out on the substrate was achieved by heating the substrate to 60 °C, and found to be strongly affected by the time lapse between deposition of the individual layers. This tool allowed to increase the aspect ratio of the printed tracks from 0.07 to 0.17, and the contact angle of the printed tracks from 15°to 37°. After completion of the deposition step, the waveguides were polymerised under UV light, and covered by a printed upper cladding layer. In the optical evaluation, transmission could be demonstrated with an attenuation in the range of 1.4 dB cm −1 for a wavelength of 785 nm, with a significant portion of material attenuation.
Abstract. Polymer-based optical sensor networks on foils (planar optronic systems) are a promising research field, but it can be challenging to supply them with light. We present a solvent-free, ink-jet printable material system with optically active substances to create planar light sources for these networks. The ink is based on a UV-curable monomer, the fluorescent agents are EuðDBMÞ 3 Phen or 9,10-diphenylantracene, which fluoresce at 612 or 430 nm, respectively. We demonstrate the application as light source by printing a small area of fluorescent material on an optical waveguide fabricated by flexographic printing on PMMA foil, resulting in a simple polymer-optical device fabricated entirely by additive deposition techniques. When excited by a 405-nm laser of 10 mW, the emitted light couples into the waveguide and appears at the end of the waveguide. In comparison to conventional light sources, the intensity is weak but could be detected with a photodiode power sensor. In return, the concept has the advantage of being completely independent of any electrical elements or external cable connections.
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