Interface analysis for the next-generation of multi-materials additive manufacturing

Session

Poster Session 4

Authors

Tien Thuy Quach (1, 2, 3), Dr. Gustavo F. Trindade (1, 2), Prof. Richard JM. Hague (2), Prof. Clive J. Roberts (1)

Affiliations

1. Advanced Materials and Healthcare Technologies, School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham
2. Centre for Additive Manufacturing, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham
3. Faculty of Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology

Keywords

Interface analysis; Multi-materials; Additive Manufacturing (3D-printing); Ultramicrotomy; Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM); Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM).

Abstract text

Multi-materials additive manufacturing (3D-printing) allows the combination of different materials within a printed object to facilitate new functionality and/or enhance the performance of the final product. Applications are foreseen in wide-ranging fields including automotive, engineering, healthcare, aerospace, and defense. Here we are endeavoring to produce co-printed functional multi-materials in pharmaceuticals and electronics. To achieve this, potential physicochemical incompatibility of materials when concurrently or sequentially printed that may limit the efficiency and affordability of the 3D-printing technology needs to be understood and addressed. We aim to develop robust characterisation approaches to study at the micro and nano-scale the material interfaces and interphases of multi-material 3D prints. In this first phase of the project, we will present work on the development of suitable sample-preparation strategies to expose undamaged native material interfaces from within 3D printed objects. As an example, we show data related to a commercialised 3D-printed inductor device (commercialised DragonFly system from Nano Dimension Company*). Ultramicrotomy was shown to be able to expose undamaged interfaces suitable for analysis by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) to acquire morphological and structural data of the 3D-printed samples. We will show the insights of provided multi-layered products, and these types of analyses can provide great opportunities for improving the multi-materials additive manufacturing and device functionalities.

*We would like to thank the Nano Dimension Company for providing the commercialised electromagnet products; the Programme Grant “Enabling Next Generation Additive Manufacturing” (EP/P031684/1) for funding the project; and the School of Pharmacy, Centre for Additive Manufacturing, Nano and Micro Scale Research Centre (nmRC) at the University of Nottingham for the necessary facilities. 

References

1. A. H. Espera, J. R. C. Dizon, Q. Chen, and R. C. Advincula, Progress in Additive Manufacturing, 2019, 4(3), 245–267.

2. J. Y. Lee, J. An, and C. K. Chua, Applied Materials Today, 2017, 7, 120–133.

3. J. Plocher and A. Panesar, Materials and Design, 2019, 183, 108–164.

4. https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/groups/cfam/major-epsrc-funding/index.aspx

5. https://www.nano-di.com/3d-printing-applications-for-electromagnets