On effect of chemical-assisted mechanical blending of barium titanate and graphene in PVDF for 3D printing applications

Abstract

The polyvinylidene difluoride + barium titanate (BaTiO3) +graphene composite (PBGC) is one of the widely explored thermoplastic matrix due to its 4D capabilities. The number of studies has been reported on the process parameters of twin-screw extruder (TSE) setup (as mechanical blending technique) for the development of PBGC in 3D printing applications. But, hitherto, little has been reported on chemical-assisted mechanical blending (CAMB) as solution mixing and melt mixing technique combination for preparation of PBGC. In this work, for preparation of PBGC feedstock filaments, CAMB has been used. Also, the effect of process parameters of TSE on the mechanical, dimensional, morphological, and thermal properties of prepared filament of PBGC have been explored followed by 3D printing. Further, a comparative study has been reported for the properties of prepared filaments with mechanically blended composites. Similarly, the mechanical properties of 3D printed parts of chemically and mechanically blended composites have been compared. The results of tensile testing for CAMB of PBGC show that the filament prepared with 15% BaTiO3 is having maximum peak strength 43.00 MPa and break strength 38.73 MPa. The optical microphotographs of the extruded filaments revealed that the samples prepared at 180°C extruder temperature and 60 r/min screw speed have minimum porosity, as compared to filaments prepared at high extruder temperature. Further, the results of the comparative study revealed that the filaments of CAMB composites show better mechanical properties as compared to the filaments of mechanically mixed composites. However, the dimensional properties were almost similar in both cases. It was also found that the CAMB composites have better properties at low processing temperature, whereas mechanically blended composites show better results at a higher temperature. While comparing 3D printed parts, tensile strength of specimens fabricated from CAMB was more than the mechanically blended PBGC.