Application of Bis[2-(3,4-epoxycyclohexyl)ethyl]octamethyltetrasiloxane in the Preparation of a Photosensitive Resin for Stereolithography 3D Printing

Bis[2-(3,4-epoxycyclohexyl)ethyl]octamethyltetrasiloxane is also called diepoxycyclohexylethyl octamethyltetrasiloxane. In the present paper, diepoxycyclohexylethyl octamethyltetrasiloxane was synthesized, and the synthesized product was characterized by FTIR and 1 HMR. The synthesized product was compounded with some acrylates and an expoxide as well as photoinitiators to obtain a 3D printing stereolithography resin(3DSLR111). The properties of 3DSLR111 and its UV-cured samples were investigated by some instruments and equipments. The experimental results show that the critical exposure(Ec) of 3DSLR111 is 10.1 mJ/cm^2, its penetration depth(Dp) is 0.15 mm, and its viscosity at 30 ℃ is 319 mPa·s. Some samples were printed with 3DSLR111, and their linear shrinkage and warping factor were evaluated. The linear shrinkage and the curl distortion factor are less than 0.80% and 7.30%, respectively, which indicates that the sample printed with 3DSLR111 has high accuracy, and that the synthesized diepoxycyclohexylethyl octamethyltetrasiloxane can be well applied to the preparation of the photosensitive resin for stereolithography 3D printing.

Preparation of A Novel Hybrid Type Photosensitive Resin for Stereolithography in 3D Printing and Testing on the Accuracy of the Fabricated Parts

A novel hybrid type photosensitive resin for stereolithography in 3D printing was prepared with bisphenol A type epoxy diacrylate （EA-612）, tripropylene glycol diacrylate （TPGDA）,ethoxylated trimethyolpropane triacrylate（EO3TMPTA）, cycloaliphatic diepoxide（ERL-4221）,polycaprolactonepolyol（Polyol-0301）,1-hydroxy-cyclohphenyl ketone（Irgacure184）, and a mixture of triarylsulfonium hexafluoroantimonate salts （Ar3SSbF6）. The novel hybrid type photosensitive resin was the photosensitive resin of an epoxy-acrylate hybrid system, which proceeded free radical polymerization and cationic polymerization in ultraviolet （UV） laser. Cuboid parts and double-cantilever parts were fabricated by using a stereolithography apparatus with the novel hybrid type photosensitive resin as the processing material,and the dimension shrinkage factor and the curl factor were tested. The shrinkage factor was less than 2.00%,and the curl factor was less than 8.00%, which showed that the accuracy of the fabricated parts was high with the photosensitive resin for stereolithography in 3D printing.

3D printing of high-precision and ferromagnetic functional devices

The development of projection-based stereolithography additive manufacturing techniques and magnetic photosensitive resins has provided a powerful approach to fabricate miniaturized magnetic functional devices with complex three-dimensional spatial structures.However,the present magnetic photosensitive resins face great challenges in the trade-off between high ferromagnetism and excellent printing quality.To address these challenges,we develop a novel NdFeB-Fe_(3)O_(4) magnetic photosensitive resin comprising 20 wt.%solid loading of magnetic particles,which can be used to fabricate high-precision and ferromagnetic functional devices via micro-continuous liquid interface production process.This resin combining ferromagnetic NdFeB microparticles and strongly absorbing Fe_(3)O_(4) nanoparticles is able to provide ferromagnetic capabilities and excellent printing quality simultaneously compared to both existing soft and hard magnetic photosensitive resins.The established penetration depth model reveals the effect of particle size,solid loading,and absorbance on the curing characteristics of magnetic photosensitive resin.A high-precision forming and ferromagnetic capability of the NdFeB-Fe_(3)O_(4) magnetic photosensitive resin are comprehensively demonstrated.It is found that the photosensitive resin(NdFeB:Fe_(3)O_(4)=1:1)can print samples with sub-40μm fine features,reduced by 87%compared to existing hard magnetic photosensitive resin,and exhibits significantly enhanced coercivity and remanence in comparison with existing soft magnetic photosensitive resins,showing by an increase of 24 times and 6 times,respectively.The reported NdFeB-Fe_(3)O_(4) magnetic photosensitive resin is anticipated to provide a new functional material for the design and manufacture of next-generation micro-robotics,electromagnetic sensor,and magneto-thermal devices.

Synthesis of 1,1,3,3,5,5-hexamethyl-1,5-bis[(3-ethyl-3-methoxyoxetane)propyl]trisiloxane and Research on Its UV-curing Performance

A compound,3-ethyl-3-hydroxymethyloxetane(EHO),was synthesized with diethyl carbonate and trihydroxypropane as raw materials,3-ethyl-3-allylmethoxy oxetane(EAMO)was synthesized with EHO and allyl bromide,and 1,1,3,3,5,5-hexamethyl-1,5-bis[(3-ethyl-3-methoxyoxetane)propyl]trisiloxane(HMBEMOPTS)was synthesized with EAMO and 1,1,3,3,5,5-hexamethyltrisiloxane(HMTS).HMBEMOPTS is a novel UV-curable oligomer.The test of photo-DSC shows the photosensitivity of HMBEMOPTS is better than the ordinary oxetane,3-ethyl-3-[(3-ethyloxetan-3-yl)methoxymethyl]oxetane.HMBEMOPTS was mixed with bisphenol A type epoxy resin E-51 to prepare a cationic UV-curable system,and triarylsulfonium hexafluoroantimonate(UV-6976)was used as a cationic photoinitiator.The mechanical tests of coating films prove that when the mass fraction of HMBEMOPTS is 50%,the mechanical properties of the curing system are the best.The impact strength of the UV-curable films is measured to be 40 kg·cm and the flexibility is 2 mm;the tensile strength and flexural strength of the prepared specimens are 20.74 MPa and 13.43 MPa,respectively.The experimental results show that HMBEMOPTS can effectively improve photosensitivity and flexibility of the photosensitive resin.