Optical characterization of 3D printed PLA and ABS filaments for diffuse optics applications

PLoS One. 2021 Jun 16;16(6):e0253181. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253181. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

The interest for Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) in the field of Diffuse Optics (DO) is rapidly increasing. The most widespread FDM materials are polylactic acid (PLA) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), thanks to their low cost and easiness-to-print. This is why, in this study, 3D printed samples of PLA and ABS materials were optically characterized in the range from the UV up to the IR wavelengths, in order to test their possible employment for probe construction in DO applications. To this purpose, measurements with Near Infrared Spectroscopy and Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy techniques were considered. The results obtained show how the material employed for probe construction can negatively affect the quality of DO measurements.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acrylonitrile*
  • Butadienes*
  • Elastomers*
  • Infrared Rays
  • Optical Phenomena*
  • Polyesters*
  • Printing, Three-Dimensional*
  • Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared
  • Styrenes*
  • Ultraviolet Rays

Substances

  • Butadienes
  • Elastomers
  • Polyesters
  • Styrenes
  • poly(lactide)
  • styrene-butadiene rubber
  • Acrylonitrile

Grants and funding

This study was partially supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, grant agreement number 101016087.The funding organizations had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.There was no additional external funding received for this study.