On Mechanical, Thermal, Morphological and Shape Memory Effect of Sol-Gel Prepared ZnO Nanoparticle Reinforced PLA Composites Materials

Abstract

In this study, the ZnO nanoparticles (NP) prepared by sol-gel method have been reinforced with polylactic acid by novel co-rotating twin-screw compounder to prepare feedstock filaments for 3D printer. The processed PLA-ZnO feedstock filaments were subjected to mechanical, thermal and morphological analysis. The results of the study suggested that PLA-2% ZnO feedstock filaments prepared under 15 kg load and 0.15Nm torque exhibited better mechanical properties. On account of shape memory effects, PLA-ZnO composite has shown the good shape recovery up to 99.77% (based upon dimensional change) and 100% (based upon weight change) under hydro-thermal stimulus.