3D printed structures with a tailored refraction index fabricated with an acrylate resin modified by a conjugated polymer

Abstract

Resins for 3D printing usually do not present suitable photoluminescence for application in optoelectronic devices. Herein, a conjugated polymer (PFeBSe) with luminescent and high refraction index properties was synthesized and used to modify an acrylate-based resin. This PFeBSe copolymer presents an ester-based side group that enhances the compatibility with the acrylate resin, resulting in a homogeneous polymeric blend. Further, the modified resin was employed with the 3D digital light processing (DLP) technique to produce luminescent guiding structures with a tailored refraction index. To maintain the processing parameters of the acrylate resin, the blending with the conjugated polymer was kept at a low concentration in the range of 5% to 15% (v/v). The blending changed the refraction index of the pristine acrylate from 1.49 to 1.51 (5% v/v) and 1.56 (15% v/v), respectively. Moreover, the resulting structures present a low extinction coefficient at the wavelength region above 600 nm. These characteristics enable the fabrication of structures with controllable forms and dimensions that can be used in the design of advanced sensors and optoelectronic devices.