Additive manufacturing, also known as 3-D printing, has opened new research pathways both in materials development and prototype development. With the increasing interest in the properties of “printed” materials, means to control the properties of these materials is also of extreme interest. Previous work in the intersection of polymer chemistry and ionic liquids has shown that ionic liquids can contribute to the various properties of polymeric materials, whether as plasticizers, thermal properties modifiers, or as co-polymers. By combining ionic liquids with current stereo-lithography (SLA) printing techniques, one can create materials with a wide range of thermal and tensile properties. In this presentation, we will discuss our work on using ionic liquids as plasticizers in additive manufacturing using stereo-lithography techniques, including the effects of cation and anion structures as well as the effects ionic liquid concentration has on the tensile properties of the materials. We will discuss the use of functional ionic liquids that increase certain performance areas, such as improved thermal properties or chemical reactivity. We will also discuss the use of ionic liquids as co-polymers in SLA printing and the properties of these co-polymeric materials. The composition, properties, and performance of these materials will be evaluated by SEM, tensile testing, DSC, TGA, IR spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry. With the increasing interest in 3-D printing, this work highlights the impact ionic liquids can have on this emerging technology.

Potential impact of ionic liquids in the field of additive manufacturing

255th National Meeting (2018)

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