<p>Fabrication of flexible electrically conductive polymers suitable for 3D printing is gaining attention due to its enormous potential to affect many polymer industries. As conventional filament-based 3D printers face issue of filament buckling, pellet-based screw extrusion has been identified as one of the effective ways for 3D printing of flexible polymers. The work deals with the novel approach of printing flexible electrically conductive parts on a computer numeric control (CNC) milling machine through a retrofitted setup. Soft rubber like material ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) polymer is used as base material and electrical conductivity is induced using different carbon-based fillers. Graphite powder, graphene and multi-walled CNT nanopowder has been loaded in different composition by weight, and the investigation has been made on the electrical conductivity and 3D printability. The composite made is printed using a customized pellet-based material extrusion tool, retrofitted on a CNC milling machine. Graphite powder was added in 5%, 10%, 20% and 30% by weight to EVA, whereas graphene and multi-walled CNT has been added in 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10% by weight. The composite samples were printed and tested for its electrical conductivity. Besides this, the printed samples were also tested for its microstructural and rheological behavior. The printed samples were found electrically conductive. The lowest resistance of 272&#xa0;Ω was found across EVA graphite sample with 30% filler loading. Based on resistivity of printed samples, printability, dimensional stability, ease of composite preparation and part printing, a comparison among the three carbon-based fillers has been presented in this work. The use of flexible conductive polymer lies in wearable electronics, sensors, flexible displays, bio-sensors and in various electronic components.</p>

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Selection Method of Suitable Filler for Fabrication of Flexible Electrically Conductive Parts through Extrusion-Based Additive Manufacturing

  • Arpit Bajpai,
  • Prashant Kumar Jain

摘要

Fabrication of flexible electrically conductive polymers suitable for 3D printing is gaining attention due to its enormous potential to affect many polymer industries. As conventional filament-based 3D printers face issue of filament buckling, pellet-based screw extrusion has been identified as one of the effective ways for 3D printing of flexible polymers. The work deals with the novel approach of printing flexible electrically conductive parts on a computer numeric control (CNC) milling machine through a retrofitted setup. Soft rubber like material ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) polymer is used as base material and electrical conductivity is induced using different carbon-based fillers. Graphite powder, graphene and multi-walled CNT nanopowder has been loaded in different composition by weight, and the investigation has been made on the electrical conductivity and 3D printability. The composite made is printed using a customized pellet-based material extrusion tool, retrofitted on a CNC milling machine. Graphite powder was added in 5%, 10%, 20% and 30% by weight to EVA, whereas graphene and multi-walled CNT has been added in 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10% by weight. The composite samples were printed and tested for its electrical conductivity. Besides this, the printed samples were also tested for its microstructural and rheological behavior. The printed samples were found electrically conductive. The lowest resistance of 272 Ω was found across EVA graphite sample with 30% filler loading. Based on resistivity of printed samples, printability, dimensional stability, ease of composite preparation and part printing, a comparison among the three carbon-based fillers has been presented in this work. The use of flexible conductive polymer lies in wearable electronics, sensors, flexible displays, bio-sensors and in various electronic components.