The Mechanical and Physical Properties of 3D-Printed Materials Composed of ABS-ZnO Nanocomposites and ABS-ZnO Microcomposites

Nectarios Vidakis; Markos Petousis; Athena Maniadi; Emmanuel Koudoumas; George Kenanakis; Cosmin Romanitan; Oana Tutunaru; Mirela Suchea; John Kechagias

doi:10.3390/mi11060615

The Mechanical and Physical Properties of 3D-Printed Materials Composed of ABS-ZnO Nanocomposites and ABS-ZnO Microcomposites

Micromachines (Basel). 2020 Jun 25;11(6):615. doi: 10.3390/mi11060615.

Authors

Nectarios Vidakis¹, Markos Petousis¹, Athena Maniadi², Emmanuel Koudoumas³, George Kenanakis⁴, Cosmin Romanitan⁵, Oana Tutunaru⁵, Mirela Suchea^{3

5}, John Kechagias⁶

Affiliations

¹ Mechanical Engineering Department, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 71004 Heraklion, Greece.
² Department of Materials Science and Technology, University of Crete, 70013 Heraklion Crete, Greece.
³ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Estavromenos, 71004 Heraklion, Greece.
⁴ Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, 70013 Heraklion, Greece.
⁵ National Institute for Research and Development in Microtechnologies (IMT-Bucharest), 077190 Bucharest, Romania.
⁶ General Department, University of Thessaly, 41500 Larissa, Greece.

Abstract

In order to expand the mechanical and physical capabilities of 3D-printed structures fabricated via commercially available 3D printers, nanocomposite and microcomposite filaments were produced via melt extrusion, 3D-printed and evaluated. The scope of this work is to fabricate physically and mechanically improved nanocomposites or microcomposites for direct commercial or industrial implementation while enriching the existing literature with the methodology applied. Zinc Oxide nanoparticles (ZnO nano) and Zinc Oxide micro-sized particles (ZnO micro) were dispersed, in various concentrations, in Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) matrices and printable filament of ~1.75mm was extruded. The composite filaments were employed in a commercial 3D printer for tensile and flexion specimens' production, according to international standards. Results showed a 14% increase in the tensile strength at 5% wt. concentration in both nanocomposite and microcomposite materials, when compared to pure ABS specimens. Furthermore, a 15.3% increase in the flexural strength was found in 0.5% wt. for ABS/ZnO nano, while an increase of 17% was found on 5% wt. ABS/ZnO micro. Comparing the two composites, it was found that the ABS/ZnO microcomposite structures had higher overall mechanical strength over ABS/ZnO nanostructures.

Keywords: 3D printing; acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS); additive manufacturing; flexural; fused filament fabrication (FFF); nanocomposites; strength; tensile.