This is a literature review for a study on the chemical resistance of 3D printable polymers. This literature review is initially targeted at liquid chemicals which can "attack" 3D printed polymers. In the future gas and plasma attack can be studied but for now it is out of the scope of this lit review.


3D printing materials and their chemical properties

PLA (Polylactic acid)

One of the most used 3D printing filaments. Various vendors and available in multiple colors. Biodegradable, potentially not very resistant to chemicals.

ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene)

Co-polyesters

Commercial 3D printing filaments: Inova Co-Polyester, ColorFabb nGen

PETG

PP (Polypropylene)

Resistant to various laboratory chemicals. Quite resistant to acids and bases. Widely used in clean rooms. Is susceptible to oxidation for example peroxides, as it is just a hydrocarbon.

PC (Polycarbonate)

PETT

Taulman T-glase is made of PETT.

FEP

Should be in the sweet spot of fluoropolymers. Low enough melting point to be printable but chemically very durable. According to some data should be resistant to nearly all room temperature liquid chemiclas used in clean rooms.

PEI

Ultem(R) is a commercial plastic which mainly consists of PEI.

Nylon

Taulman Alloy 910 is apparently Nylon-based.

PETG

Polyethylene terephthalate modified with glycol.

Liquid chemicals

organic polymers can be here taken as the normal
What reactions happen in organic polymers in liquids?

List of chemicals

The resistance of 3D printable materials at least to the following solvents, acids and solutions is tested:

  • Deionized H2O
  • Isopropanol
  • Acetone
  • Hydrochloric acid (HCl), 37%
  • Ammonia (NH3), aqueous solution 25%
  • Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), aqueous solution 30%
  • Nitric acid (HNO3)
  • Phosphoric acid (H3PO4)
  • Acetic acid, concentrated

These chemicals are common chemicals used in many laboratories and many semiconductor processing steps, such as in the cleaning of silicon wafers.

Organic polymers

General level discussion of organic polymers .Focus here in differences of organic polymers, their production, etc 

Sources

Fluoro polymers

Contrast these guys to organics

Sources


Cookies help us deliver our services. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies.