Polymethylmethacrylate/polyethyleneglycol-based partially water soluble binder system for micro ceramic injection moulding

New Feedstock System for Fused Filament Fabrication of Sintered Alumina Parts

“…Considering only ceramics, up to now mostly sintered alumina or mullite [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ], zirconia [ 27 , 28 , 29 ], or silicon nitride [ 30 ] parts have been realized, typical binder components are paraffin wax, (modified) polyolefines, or thermoplastic elastomers. Fatty-acid derivatives, like stearic acid, or commercial additives with proprietary composition, are widely established as surfactants or plasticizers [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 27 , 28 , 30 , 31 ]. Like feedstocks in ceramic injection molding, two component binder mixtures are often applied, one low molecular mass material allows a low melt viscosity at moderate temperatures and one high molecular mass fraction (backbone polymer) delivers a certain mechanical stability at lower temperatures after shaping.…”

PVB/PEG-Based Feedstocks for Injection Molding of Alumina Microreactor Components

“…Ceramic injection molding (CIM) processes are generally divided into four steps: (1) compounding; (2) injection molding; (3) debinding; and (4) sintering [4,5]. Defects in the final parts created during injection molding cannot be eliminated during step three and four [5].…”

“…Many types of binder compositions have been developed based on this environmentally friendly binder to injection molding for a variety of powders [13,14,15,16]. However, most of them require the use of organic solvents during the solvent debinding stage prior to thermal decombustion of the PE [4,16]. Paraffin wax is generally removed by dissolving the wax using hexane or heptane [4,17,18].…”

“…However, most of them require the use of organic solvents during the solvent debinding stage prior to thermal decombustion of the PE [4,16]. Paraffin wax is generally removed by dissolving the wax using hexane or heptane [4,17,18]. With regard to “Green Process Engineering”, which requires the integration of new environmentally friendly chemical routes and technical innovation to achieve green process development [19], alternative binder systems based on polyethylene glycols (PEG) C 2n H 4n+2 O n+1 have been investigated in order to replace organic solvents like hexane and heptane.…”

“…With regard to “Green Process Engineering”, which requires the integration of new environmentally friendly chemical routes and technical innovation to achieve green process development [19], alternative binder systems based on polyethylene glycols (PEG) C 2n H 4n+2 O n+1 have been investigated in order to replace organic solvents like hexane and heptane. The development of an environmentally friendly feedstock binder system must consider the substitution of any organic solvent or even the solvent pre-debinding [4]. Low molecular PEG is soluble in water and can be easily debound via water-leaching [7].…”