3D Printing Opportunities using epoxy resins

One of the fascinating aspects of the emerging technology of 3D printing is how researchers are experimenting with different materials. Thermoplastics and powdered metal are already standard materials for the additive manufacturing process. Gizmag reports that researchers at Harvard are delving into the 3D printing opportunities inherent in using an epoxy resin.

It is a truism in materials science that he stronger a material is, the denser and therefore heavier it tends to be. Conversely lighter materials tend to be weaker. The idea is to find or create materials that are at once strong and lightweight.

Balsa wood is one such material. It tends to be light and, because of a unique cellular structure, strong. It is used for such things as the blades of wind turbines as well as model cars and planes. The problem is that most balsa wood comes from Ecuador.

The Harvard researchers have found a way to create an epoxy resin material that can be used in a 3D printer that has a cellular structure that makes it better than balsa wood. They built the new composite using an epoxy-based resin containing nanoclay platelets to increase viscosity, as well as two types of fillers-- silicon carbide "whiskers" and discrete carbon fibers. What's more, the researchers can play with the density of the material, controlling it as it gets spun out of the 3D printer.

The resulting structures are much stiffer and stronger than the standard thermoplastics currently used in 3D printing. This opens the way to building lightweight but stronger products from the wind turbine blades to lighter but safer cars that increase gas mileage.