Photocatalytic Performance of 3D Printed Polymer Composites: Effect of Matrix Material

Abstract

Additive manufacturing has started to be used in many sectors today (e.g. aerospace, dentistry, biomaterials, drug industry) and is still a developing material production method. Three-dimensional (3D) printers are the main devices used in this method, which enables production without the need for molds. These 3D printers are divided into mechanical, electrical and photochemical types. Photosensitive resins are used for production in photochemical three-dimensional printers. These resins contain monomer, oligomer, photoinitiator and optionally filler material. The change of monomer, oligomer, and filler materials in the structure also affects various characteristics of the obtained polymer including mechanical, electrical, magnetic, and photochemical roperties. To the extent of our literature review, it has been determined that there are not enough studies on the effect of the change in the matrix material of the polymer matrix composite materials produced with 3D printers on the photocatalytic performance. With this motivation, in this study, the photocatalytic performance of composite samples obtained by the incorporation of nano-sized TiO2 particles(1.5 wt.%) into two different acrylate-based resin mixtures was compared. Bisphenol-A glycidyl dimethacrylate (bis-GMA) and urethane dimethacrylate (UDMA) based monomers were used as matrix material, and triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA) was used as the diluent. TiO2 nanoparticles and photoinitiator were added into the prepared mixtures and mixed in a magnetic stirrer until a homogeneous mixture was obtained. Then, polymer samples were obtained by printing the resins with a 3D printer in 20x35x3 mm dimensions. The photocatalytic activity of the obtained polymers under visible light irradiation was tested. Experimental results revealed that even a small amount of TiO2 is effective in imparting photocatalytic activity to the structure, and besides, the effect of bis-GMA-based matrix material on photocatalytic performance is more pronounced than that of UDMA-based matrix material.