Effects of Functional Fillers in the Mechanical Properties of 3d-Printed Polylactic Acid Using Fused Deposition Modelling

Abstract

Polylactic acid (PLA) has increasingly attracted research in various industrial fields due to its great biocompatibility and sustainability over other thermoplastics, which are widely used as filament feedstock in 3D-printing technology, specifically in Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM). Despite PLA being suitable in FDM processing, it has limitations in applications that need plastic deformation at high-stress levels due to its low strength and ductility. For this purpose, this review article discusses the existing studies that involve the incorporation of fillers in 3D-printed polylactic acid to maximize its functionality, which is non-attainable by the pure filament material alone. An overview of polylactic acid in FDM and the properties and effects of functional fillers of different types are presented. Finally, a complete table of which functional fillers are categorized (carbonaceous, metallic, ceramic and glassy, plant-based, and mineral) summarizes the reported comparison of 3D-printed pure PLA and the composite, scoping to reveal the mechanical modifications of each filler.

Polymer based flow field plates for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell and the scope of additive manufacturing: A techno‐economic review

“…Reinforcing filler is a phrase used to describe discontinuous additives whose form, shape, and/or surface chemistry have been changed to improve the mechanical characteristics of the polymers, notably strength 108,109 . Most importantly, they reduced material costs by substituting the costly polymer; other probable economic advantages were faster moulding cycles resulting from enhanced electrical and thermal conductivity and fewer rejected parts owing to warpage 110–112 . As discussed above, owing to their semiconducting nature and insulating properties, all‐polymer composites seem to be plagued by the problem of low electrical conductivity, despite the benefits over graphite and metallic plates 113 .…”

“…108,109 Most importantly, they reduced material costs by substituting the costly polymer; other probable economic advantages were faster moulding cycles resulting from enhanced electrical and thermal conductivity and fewer rejected parts owing to warpage. [110][111][112] As discussed above, owing to their semiconducting nature and insulating properties, all-polymer composites seem to be plagued by the problem of low electrical conductivity, despite the benefits over graphite and metallic plates. 113 When it comes to polymer composites, fillers, and reinforcements such as carbon/graphite, CB, CF, coke graphite, and fibres such as CNTs/CNFs, cellulose, and cotton Electrical resistance 1.00 to 1.20e+20 Ω cm flakes have been explored as fillers or reinforcements to alleviate these inadequacies and tackle the electrical conductivity issue.…”