A Simple, Low-Cost Conductive Composite Material for 3D Printing of Electronic Sensors

Abstract

3D printing technology can produce complex objects directly from computer aided digital designs. The technology has traditionally been used by large companies to produce fit and form concept prototypes (‘rapid prototyping’) before production. In recent years however there has been a move to adopt the technology as full-scale manufacturing solution. The advent of low-cost, desktop 3D printers such as the RepRap and Fab@Home has meant a wider user base are now able to have access to desktop manufacturing platforms enabling them to produce highly customised products for personal use and sale. This uptake in usage has been coupled with a demand for printing technology and materials able to print functional elements such as electronic sensors. Here we present formulation of a simple conductive thermoplastic composite we term ‘carbomorph’ and demonstrate how it can be used in an unmodified low-cost 3D printer to print electronic sensors able to sense mechanical flexing and capacitance changes. We show how this capability can be used to produce custom sensing devices and user interface devices along with printed objects with embedded sensing capability. This advance in low-cost 3D printing with offer a new paradigm in the 3D printing field with printed sensors and electronics embedded inside 3D printed objects in a single build process without requiring complex or expensive materials incorporating additives such as carbon nanotubes.

Thermal properties of 3-D printed polylactic acid-metal composites

“…Few manufactures readily develop composite filament materials for thermal applications. Numerous investigations have developed understandings of electrically conductive polymers suited for FFF [40,41]. However, thermal applications specific to thermal conductivity are limited at this time.…”

PrintPut: Resistive and Capacitive Input Widgets for Interactive 3D Prints

“…Sauron modifies 3D models such that, when printed, an internal camera can detect the motion of widgets such as push buttons, joysticks, and sliders. Leigh et al [5] outlined the process they used to create custom conductive filaments. They also showed how the filament could be used to 3D print basic capacitive buttons and flex sensors.…”

“…One of the basic button types is a capacitive button, as originally presented by Leigh et al [5]. They are made from a single pad of conductive filament, in any desired shape.…”

3D bioprinting for tissue engineering: Stem cells in hydrogels

“…hilst 2D printing has had a big influence on everyday living, the advent of additive processing technology in 1986 [1] has seen an explosion in innovative ways of producing 3D structures, such as electronic devices [2] , aircraft parts [3] , medical devices [4] and tissue mimics [5][6][7] . For clinical applications, early designs based on creating sacrificial moulds as templates for the biomaterials [8] were quickly superseded by aqueous systems that could directly print biological materials [9−11] .…”