Development of 3D Printing Filaments from Recycled PLA Reinforced with Nanoclay

Abstract:

This study focused on the development of 3D printing filaments suitable for fused deposition modeling (FDM) by recycling expired polylactic acid (PLA) filaments. The 3D printing filaments were processed into pellets by incorporating montmorillonite (MMT) nanoclay into the expired PLA filaments through twin-screw extrusion with varying concentrations of 1%, 3%, and 5 wt.%. These composite pellets were reprocessed to filaments through a filament extruder with a diameter of 1.75 mm. These filaments underwent different characterization techniques to test its mechanical and thermal properties. The thermal properties showed increasing values in the glass transition temperature, crystallization temperature, and melting temperature with a decrease in the specific heat upon incorporating increasing amount of MMT nanoclay. Furthermore, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed a positive impact with better thermal stability when the MMT content was incorporated. In terms of mechanical properties, the study showed that the addition of 1 wt% MMT nanoclay, provided an increase in both the tensile strength and elastic modulus comparable to the virgin 3D printing PLA filament.

• Periodical: Key Engineering Materials (Volume 975)
• Pages: 121-126
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/p-2PsMp3
• Online since: February 2024
• Authors: Blessie A. Basilia*, Julius N. Concepcion, John Jerald Prila
• Keywords: 3D Printing, Fused Deposition Modeling, Mechanical Properties, Montmorillonite Nanoclay, Poly(Lactic Acid), Twin-Screw Extruder

References

[1] Wong, K. V., & Hernandez, A. (2012). A review of Additive Manufacturing. ISRN Mechanical Engineering, 2012, 1–10.

DOI: 10.5402/2012/208760

[2] Song, R., & Telenko, C. (2017). Material and energy loss due to human and machine error in commercial FDM printers. Journal of Cleaner Production, 148, 895–904.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.01.171

[3] 3D printer support material: Which one to use for my project? All3DP. (2019, July 29). Retrieved July21,2022,https://all3dp.com/2/3d-printer-support-material-which-one-to-use-for-my-projectfig

[4] Dwamena, M. (2021, January 15). Does 3D printer Filament Go Bad/expire? how to tell. 3D Printerly. 7/27/23 https://3dprinterly.com/does-3d-printer-filament-go-bad-expire-how-to-tell/.

[5] Anderson, I. (2017). Mechanical properties of specimens' 3D printed with virgin and recycled polylactic acid. 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing, 4(2), 110–115. https://doi.org/.

DOI: 10.1089/3dp.2016.0054

[6] Yuniarto, K., Purwanto, Y. A., Purwanto, S., Welt, B. A., Purwadaria, H. K., & Sunarti, T. C. (2016). Infrared and Raman Studies on polylactide acid and polyethylene glycol-400 blend. AIP Conference Proceedings.

DOI: 10.1063/1.4945555

[7] Grigora, M.-E., Terzopoulou, Z., Tsongas, K., Bikiaris, D. N., & Tzetzis, D. (2022). Physicochemical characterization and finite element analysis-assisted mechanical behavior of polylactic acid-montmorillonite 3D printed nanocomposites. Nanomaterials, 12(15), 2641.

DOI: 10.3390/nano12152641

[8] Jubinville, D., Tzoganakis, C., & Mekonnen, T. H. (2022). Recycled pla – wood flour based biocomposites: Effect of wood flour surface modification, pla recycling, and Maleation. Construction and Building Materials, 352, 129026. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.conbuildmat.2022.129026.

DOI: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2022.129026

[9] Umamaheswara Rao, R., Venkatanarayana, B., & Suman, K. N. S. (2019). Enhancement of mechanical properties of PLA/PCL (80/20) blend by reinforcing with MMT nanoclay. Materials Today: Proceedings, 18, 85–97.

DOI: 10.1016/j.matpr.2019.06.280

[10] Salah, L. S., Ouslimani, N., Danlée, Y., Beltrán, F. R., Huynen, I., & Ulagares de la Orden, M. (2023). Investigation of mechanical recycling effect on electromagnetic properties of polylactic acid (PLA) – nanoclay nanocomposites: Towards a valorization of recycled PLA nanocomposites. Composites Part C: Open Access, 10, 100339.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomc.2022.100339

[11] Othman, S. H., Ling, H. N., Talib, R. A., Naim, M. N., Risyon, N. P., & Saifullah, M. (2019). PLA/MMT and PLA/Halloysite Bio-Nanocomposite films: Mechanical, Barrier, and transparency. Journal of Nano Research, 59, 77–93. https://doi.org/10.4028/ www.scientific.net/jnanor.59.77.

DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/jnanor.59.77

[12] Correia, C., Gomes, T. E., Gonçalves, I., & Neto, V. (2022). Reprocessability of PLA through chain extension for fused filament fabrication. Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing, 6(1), 26.

DOI: 10.3390/jmmp6010026