Achieving improved dielectric, mechanical, and thermal properties of additive manufactured parts via filament modification using OMMT-based nanocomposite

Additive manufacturing (AM) is as an emerging technique which can fabricate any complex shapes and is currently being used to directly manufacture end-use products. However, further progress in AM greatly relies on the advancements in materials that can be processed by this technique. Polymer nanocomposites are known for their superior properties compared to pristine polymer. Organically modified montmorillonite (OMMT) is a versatile nanoparticle which has the potential to significantly alter various polymer properties. The present work discusses about utilizing OMMT-based polymer nanocomposite for AM via fused deposition modeling (FDM). The acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) filament was modified by coating it with OMMT/ABS nanocomposite solution and further exposed to microwave irradiation before AM process. A fused network of nanocomposite coating with core polymer was developed over the entire part during AM. Dielectric properties of FDM parts were altered because of the presence of OMMT nanoparticles, as their ionic nature provided addition polarization mechanism. A significant improvement in thermal behavior, tensile modulus, and hardness was also observed. The presented approach provides an efficient way to improve the desired properties of FDM parts.