Polymer nanocomposites are inspired materials that enable high-performance properties leading to new applications even under extreme conditions. The use of 3D printing to create objects from polymeric nanocomposite materials has appended the design functionality of polymeric materials enabling wide uses and rapid scale development in new applications. Polymers can be classified into thermoplastics, thermosets, and elastomers based on their thermo-mechanical properties. Fillers and nanomaterials based on clay, silica, carbon polymorphs, nanocellulose, etc. have a wide a range of properties leading to new structure-composition-property relationships with as little as 0.1 %. Each class of polymers when paired with a corresponding nanomaterial can become a class of its own. This is also more evident with the choices of 3D printing methodologies (FDM, SLA, SLS, VSP) which can make use of blended or formulated compositions. By incorporating nanomaterials with 3D printing allows the design of new and toughened materials and applications based on nanostructuring and integrating the chemistry of conversion with the printing mode. In this talk, we demonstrate the fabrication of higher performance and toughened 3D printed materials based on the use of nanomaterials (nanoclay, nanocellulose, graphene, etc.) and their nanostructuring. The use of SLA, SLS, FDM, for 3D printing towards high strength properties and their applications will be discussed. Stimuli-responsive properties are demonstrated as 4D Printing examples where shape-memory and controlled wetting behavior have been observed.

3D and 4D printing of polymer nanocomposites: High-performance properties

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.