Preparation and characterization of 3D printable flexible acrylate-based resin

Abstract

The aim of this study was to prepare an acrylate-based 3D printable resin that showed flexible properties after photopolymerizationand to characterize mechanical-physicochemical properties of polymerized objects. The experimental resincontained butyl acrylate (BA) and urethane dimethacrylate (UDMA) in 7:3 weight ratio, phenylbis(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)phosphine oxide (BAPO) in 0.2 %w/w and ethyl 4-(dimethylamino) benzoate in 0.4 %w/w. Tensile strength measurementswere performed by Intron 5544. The curing times were 1, 2 and 5 min. FT-IR spectroscopy was used for the degreeof conversion (DC) measurements on the top and bottom surfaces of specimens. The tensile strength data of resinincreased with polymerization time. Behind this is a higher degree of polymerization, which is also supported by the conversiondata. A trial printing of experimental resin revealed that this matrix can be applied in an SLA 3D printer.