Research center VTT and diamond specialist Carbodeon Ltd Oy have developed a plastic material incorporating nanodiamond particles for use in additive manufacturing (AM).
The uDiamond filament, patented by Carbodeon and now available on the market, could improve the usability of 3D technology and broaden the applications of 3D printing, the company said.
The nanodiamond particles it contains can help shape the structure and properties of the material, while the spherical nanodiamonds work like a lubricant and do not increase the clogging of the printer nozzle.
Nanodiamonds can help improve the thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of the plastic material. VTT and Carbodeon say that they have developed ways to disperse the nanodiamonds in the PLA material in so that the finished product is a PLA composite manufactured at industrial scale.
‘Based on the preliminary tests, the modulus of the 3D printed test pieces was improved at best by more than 200% compared to the PLA-based filament already on the market,’ said Satu Pasanen, research scientist at VTT.
This story is reprinted from material from Carbodeon, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
