Mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of ABS Copper Zinc Ferrite polymer composites fabricated using 3D printer compositing technique

This study aims to produce polymers that capable of thermally conductive but low electrical conductivity using new fabrication compositing technique of 3D printer. Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) has been used as a matrix due to its versatility and widely used in many applications. For thermal conduction purposes, copper zinc ferrite (CuZnFe2O4) have been selected as filler due to their unique properties which can improve thermal conductivity but has low electrical conductivity. To fabricate this conductive polymer, a three-dimensional printer (3D printer) was used. Fabrication of composites using 3D printers is gaining attention due to their advantages. However, the main challenge of using 3D printers is the lack of mechanical strength of the printed part. Therefore, the addition of filler material and varying the printer setting may increase the mechanical strength of the printed material. Two settings were used in this study which are raster angles (0⁰, 45⁰ and 90⁰) and infill density (50%, 75% and 100%). New methods have been introduced to produce composite materials using this 3D printer, which is the distributing of filler during the printing process using powder dispenser. Small modification has been made on the printer by installing powder dispenser. The dispenser was operated at three different speeds which are low speed (1000 rpm), medium speed (1400 rpm) and high speed (1800 rpm) to obtain different dispensed amounts of filler. The percentage of dispensed filler was determined using TGA which give 8 wt% for low speed, 11 wt% for medium speed and 14 wt% for high speed. All test results show that the production of thermally conductive, but electrically insulative polymers can be made using 3D printers utilizing dispensed filler. The results showed an increase in tensile strength, percentage of elongation at break, Young's modulus and hardness of the specimens by 23%, 66%, 9% and 21% respectively when the specimens were printed using raster angles 0⁰. For specimens printed at 100% infill density showed an increase in tensile strength, Young's modulus and hardness values were 17%, 96% and 64%, respectively. There was a decrease in the percentage of elongation about 11% at 100% infill density. However, the raster angle and infill density do not show insignificantincrease in thermal and electrical conductivity of the printed material. Approximately 724% increase in thermal conductivity and a decade increment in electrical conductivity after addition with a 14 wt% filler. The increase in mechanical properties and dynamic mechanical properties also increased by 118% for tensile strength, 22% for Young's modulus and 342% for hardness value after addition of 14 wt% filler. No significant changes were noted in mechanical and dynamic mechanical properties when the stoichiometric of reinforcer is changed. However, a 63% increase in thermal conductivitywas found in specimens with a filler stoichiometry is increased from x = 0 to x=1.