Caracterização e viabilidade de impressão 3D para nanocompósitos de PLA/TPU/SEP

Abstract

In recent years, a significant increase in the use of additive manufacturing techniques (AM) has been observed for the conformation of devices to the biomedical area. Since scaffold processing is extremely delicate, as a consequence of its structure and geometry, 3D printing presents itself as one of the most promising methods for making them. To improve the printing properties related to the blend of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), which are immiscible polymers, aiming at future biomedical applications (scaffolds), it was decided to test the sepiolite (SEP) inclusion in different dispersion protocols. Four nanocomposites (PLA/TPU/SEP) of the same composition, but with different mixing protocols were produced and evaluated according to the properties of the pure materials (PLA and TPU) and the blend (PLA/TPU). During the development of the PLA/TPU/SEP nanocomposites, an investigation was carried out regarding the processing characteristics (torque rheometry), the thermal properties (DSC and TGA), the rheological properties (oscillatory regime), and their correlation with the necessary characteristics for the scaffold printing. From the analyzes carried out, it can be observed that the presence of SEP improved the thermal and rheological properties, compared to the PLA/TPU blend, and, consequently, had a positive impact on the scaffolds printing, qualitatively and quantitatively. On the other hand, the different mixing protocols did not present significant results, since none individually stood out among the others, and, therefore, without presenting significant properties improvement that would justify its preference in future uses.