Polycaprolactone/polysaccharide functional composites for low-temperature fused deposition modelling

Yu-Qing Zhao; Ji-Hao Yang; Xiaokang Ding; Xuejia Ding; Shun Duan; Fu-Jian Xu

doi:10.1016/j.bioactmat.2020.02.006

Polycaprolactone/polysaccharide functional composites for low-temperature fused deposition modelling

Bioact Mater. 2020 Feb 20;5(2):185-191. doi: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2020.02.006. eCollection 2020 Jun.

Authors

Yu-Qing Zhao¹, Ji-Hao Yang¹, Xiaokang Ding¹, Xuejia Ding¹, Shun Duan¹, Fu-Jian Xu¹

Affiliation

¹ State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Key Lab of Biomedical Materials of Natural Macromolecules (Beijing University of Chemical Technology), Ministry of Education, Beijing Laboratory of Biomedical Materials, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China.

Abstract

Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is a commonly used 3D printing technology. The development of FDM materials was essential for the product quality of FDM. In this work, a series of polycaprolactone (PCL)-based composites for low-temperature FDM were developed. By melt blending technique, different ratios of starch were added into PCL to improve the performances of FDM, and the printability, tensile strength, rheological properties, crystallization behaviors and biological performances of the composites were studied. The PCL/starch composite had the best performance in FDM process with the starch ratio of 9 ph at 80-90 °C. The melting strength and solidification rate of PCL/starch composites were improved. The starch also increased the crystallization temperature, degree of crystallinity and crystallization rate of PCL/starch composites, while had no negative effects on the tensile strength of PCL. Due to the low printing temperature, various kinds of bioactive components were added into PCL/starch composites for preparation of antibacterial and biocompatible materials for FDM. The present work provides a new method to develop novel low-temperature FDM materials with various functions.

Keywords: Antibacterial; Composite; Fused deposition modelling; Melt blending; Polycaprolactone.