Biodegradable PGA/PBAT Blends for 3D Printing: Material Performance and Periodic Minimal Surface Structures

Abstract

Biodegradable polymers have been rapidly developed for alleviating excessive consumption of non-degradable plastics. Additive manufacturing is also a green energy-efficiency and environment-protection technique to fabricate complicated structures. Herein, biodegradable polyesters, polyglycolic acid (PGA) and poly (butyleneadipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) were blended and developed into feedstock for 3D printing. Under a set of formulations, PGA/PBAT blends exhibited a tailored stiffness-toughness mechanical performance. Then, PGA/PBAT (85/15 in weight ratio) with good thermal stability and mechanical property were extruded into filaments with a uniform wire diameter. Mechanical testing clearly indicated that FDM 3D-printed exhibited comparable tensile, flexural and impact properties with injection-molded samples of PGA/PBAT (85/15). Furthermore, uniform and graded Diamond-Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces (D-TPMS) structures were designed and successfully manufactured via the fused deposition modeling (FDM) technique. Computer tomography (CT) was employed to confirm the internal three-dimensional structures. The compressive test results showed that PGA/PBAT (85/15) D-surface structures bear better load-carrying capacity than that of neat PGA, giving an advantage of energy absorption. Additionally, typical industrial parts were manufactured with excellent dimension-stability, no-wrapping and fine quality. Collectively, biodegradable PGA/PBAT material with good printability has great potentials in application requiring stiffer structures.

Compression Performance and Deformation Behavior of 3D-Printed PLA-Based Lattice Structures

“…The scaffold struts were fixed a mm, and different pore sizes of 500, 650, and 800 μm were designed. Then, the STL were imported to the CURA program for slicing and the setting of printed paramete Second, triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) structures were mathematicall proximated using implicit methods [22,23]. Among different types of TPMS struct diamond (D) surface was selected in the current work.…”

“…The printing parameters was set as follows: the nozzle diameter of 0.40 mm, layer height of 0.15 mm, the infill density of 100%, and the printing velocity of 20 mm/s. For PLA/CaCO3 and PLA/TCP composite filaments, the nozzle temperature was 210 °C, and Second, triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) structures were mathematically approximated using implicit methods [22,23]. Among different types of TPMS structures, diamond (D) surface was selected in the current work.…”

Synthesis of Poly(butylene adipate terephthalate)-co-poly(glycolic acid) with Enhanced Degradability in Water

“…Polyglycolic acid (PGA) is a linear aliphatic polyester. It can be produced from coal through methyl glycolate, which is a promising route for converting coal to high-end chemicals. − PGA possesses tensile strength of approximately 115 MPa, a Young’s modulus of about 7 GPa, and excellent gas barrier properties (100 times lower than that of PET) but is very brittle. − In addition, PGA could be completely degraded in 30 days under composting conditions and lost 30–60 wt % in 20 days under a phosphate buffer solution at 37°C . Its rapid degradability is due to the extremely hydrolyzable backbones and the autocatalytic degradation promoted by the acid generated during its hydrolysis, which is not commonly found in most synthesized polymers, − despite its application in PBAT compounding. , Therefore, it is important to explore glycolic acid (GA) as a comonomer to tailor the sequence structure and degradability of the PBAT-based quaternary random copolyester.…”

Poly(Butylene Adipate/Terephthalate-Co-Glycolate) Copolyester Synthesis Based on Methyl Glycolate with Improved Barrier Properties: From Synthesis to Structure-Property

“…At present, the modification method of PBAT is mainly blending modification, such as polylactic acid (PLA) [ 2 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ], polybutylene succinate (PBS) [ 20 ], polyglycolic acid (PGA) [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ], polycaprolactone (PCL) [ 28 , 29 ], poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ], poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) (EVOH) [ 34 ], starch [ 35 , 36 ], calcium carbonate [ 37 , 38 ], and other materials [ 39 ]. PBAT was also modified by chain extension modification [ 40 ].…”