Photocross-Linked Bio-Based Polymers for Potential Application in Optical 3D Printing

In recent years, stereolitography (SLA) or optical 3D printing, one of additive manufacturing technologies, attained a lot of interest due to the high printing accuracy and speed, simple and low raw material usage technology [1,2]. However, most resins for optical 3D printing are composed of petroleum-derived materials. Plant-based photocross-linkable materials are one of the most promising materials for polymer synthesis, which could replace petroleum-derived monomers [3].

In this study, the commercially available acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO), divinylbenzene (DVB) and plant-derived reactive diluent myrcene (MYR) were photopolymerized in various ratios, and plant-derived vanillin dimethacrylate (VDM) was used as a replacement of DVB.

It was determined that photopolymerization rate and properties of the cross-linked polymers depended on the resin composition. It was observed that MYR significantly reduced not only the viscosity of the resin but also the rate of photocross linking, and impaired mechanical properties of polymers. The replacement of petroleum-derived aromatic component DVB by plant-derived VDM led to the higher rate of photocross linking, better mechanical, and thermal properties of polymers. The resin composed of only plant-derived monomers, AESO, MYR, and VDM, molar ratio 1:1:3, showed characteristics comparable to those of commercial petroleum-derived photoresins and was selected as a potential renewable photoresin for application in optical 3D printing.

Acknowledgements

Financial support from the EU ERDF, through the INTERREG BSR Programme (ECOLABNET project No. #R077), is gratefully acknowledged

References

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2. M Lebedevaite, J Ostrauskaite, E Skliutas, M Malinauskas, Polymers, 11 116 (2019)
3. Lebedevaite, M., Ostrauskaite, J., Skliutas, E., & Malinauskas, M., Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 137(20) 48708 (2020)