Light-oriented 3D printing of liquid crystal/photocurable resins and in-situ enhancement of mechanical performance

Xiaolu Sun, Shaoyun Chen (), Bo Qu, Rui Wang, Yanyu Zheng, Xiaoying Liu, Wenjie Li, Jianhong Gao, Qinhui Chen () and Dongxian Zhuo ()
Additional contact information
Xiaolu Sun: Quanzhou Normal University
Shaoyun Chen: Quanzhou Normal University
Bo Qu: Quanzhou Normal University
Rui Wang: Quanzhou Normal University
Yanyu Zheng: Quanzhou Normal University
Xiaoying Liu: Quanzhou Normal University
Wenjie Li: Quanzhou Normal University
Jianhong Gao: Quanzhou Normal University
Qinhui Chen: Fujian Normal University
Dongxian Zhuo: Quanzhou Normal University

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Additive manufacturing technology has significantly impacted contemporary industries due to its ability to generate intricate computer-designed geometries. However, 3D-printed polymer parts often possess limited application potential, primarily because of their weak mechanical attributes. To overcome this drawback, this study formulates liquid crystal/photocurable resins suitable for the stereolithography technique by integrating 4’-pentyl-4-cyanobiphenyl with a photosensitive acrylic resin. This study demonstrates that stereolithography facilitates the precise modulation of the existing liquid crystal morphology within the resin. Furthermore, the orientation of the liquid crystal governs the oriented polymerization of monomers or prepolymers bearing acrylate groups. The products of this 3D printing approach manifest anisotropic behavior. Remarkably, when utilizing liquid crystal/photocurable resins, the resulting 3D-printed objects are approximately twice as robust as those created using commercial resins in terms of their tensile, flexural, and impact properties. This pioneering approach holds promise for realizing autonomously designed structures that remain elusive with present additive manufacturing techniques.

Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-42369-1 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-42369-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42369-1

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().