4D printing with the assistance of electrical stimulation on polylactic acid coated with carbon nanotubes
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Polymers that change shape over time when a stimulus is applied are known as shape memory polymers (SMPs). This study presents an innovative approach to fabricating an electrically responsive SMP. It uses polylactic acid)PLA(as the base material, and carbon nanotubes)CNTs) as conductive additives. Instead of blending CNT with PLA, they were coated on the surface of the samples. The coating consisted of a mixture of CNT/ polycaprolactone)PCL). The samples were made using fused deposition modeling (FDM), an additive manufacturing (AM) method. Analyzing the shape memory properties of samples produced at different printing parameters is the focus of this study. These parameters include the infill angle, the number of coating layers, and the applied voltage. The voltage generates the Joule heating effect and results in the recovery of SMP to the original shape. The highest conductivity of samples belongs to three coating layers, whose conductivity is equal to 0.51 S/cm. Under different parameter settings, the highest recorded shape recovery ratio reached 71.47% at voltage 60, infill angle 0/90, and two coating layers. This value, emphasizes the remarkable ability of the developed material to return to its original shape. Furthermore, the maximum shape recovery speed observed was 0.3593 degree/s, providing valuable information about shape recovery speed under optimal conditions.
Source: Rapid Prototyping Journal
Authors: Reza Gholizadeh Ledari, Abbas Zolfaghari
Institution: Babol Noshirvani University of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Mechanical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4405952859