Circular ink for 3D printers
The inks used in commercial 3D printers are bad for the environment because they are made from petroleum. They create problems such as greenhouse gases, poor air quality, global warming and pollution of water and land. In addition, it is difficult to repair or reuse printed objects. Therefore, we would like to develop new inks that are renewable and recyclable to meet the demand for sustainable 3D printing materials.
Reason
3D printing allows us to customise parts from different materials. The market for 3D printing materials is growing rapidly and is expected to exceed $20 billion by 2030. Currently, we often use photopolymer resins (is basically the ink for the printer) in 3D printing because they are stable and work well with stereolithography. This is a technique in which liquid resins cure precisely. But the resins we use now are made from fossil resources and cannot be recycled. Therefore, we need affordable resins made from renewable resources.
What problem does the project solve?
In this project, we are trying to make better inks for 3D printers. The inks currently used are made from fossil resources and cannot be recycled. This is expensive and bad for the environment. We want to develop new inks made from natural materials, which can be recycled. This would enable the reuse of 3D printed products. The project is in response to a request from Liqcreate, a company that wants good inks for their 3D printers. Currently, there are no good inks on the market that meet these requirements.
Who is the project team
The project team consists of three parties: Liqcreate, NHL Stenden Hogeschool and Maastricht University. Liqcreate is a company working on sustainable 3D printing innovations. NHL Stenden Hogeschool and Maastricht University are knowledge institutions that know a lot about green chemistry and sustainable polymers. Cooperation between these three parties is very important. The project team consists of researchers and students of different levels (bachelor, master and PhD) from both institutions. We work together to carry out the project.
How is the project team tackling this?
The aim of this project is to make sustainable photopolymer resins from biomass that we can recycle after 3D printing. Previously, research has been done on photopolymer resins made from vegetable oil, such as soybean oil, at NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences. Now we want to make these bio-resins recyclable by using special materials called "vitrimers". These materials can be repaired, changed and recycled because they have special compounds. As a result, we can help recycle photopolymers, which could be a solution to the problem that they are now difficult to recycle. It is also good that we are using less fossil resources by using plant-based building blocks.
Main/preliminary results
The project achieved its goal through the successful completion of several subprojects:
- We created and investigated building blocks derived from natural sources, such as camphor, lignin and fatty acids.
- We have formulated different inks for 3D printers using these building blocks.
- We printed several prototypes using these inks and tested the properties of the printed products.
To investigate whether the printed objects are recyclable, we ground them into powder and then converted them into "new" products in a mould under high temperature and pressure. We repeated this procedure three times and tested the products from each cycle. The results showed that the mechanical properties remained consistent. This means that the newly developed 3D printing ink is circular.
