In this publication, we describe the process of fabrication and the analysis of the properties of nanocomposite filaments based on carbon nanotubes and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) polymer for fused deposition modeling (FDM) additive manufacturing. Polymer granulate was mixed and extruded with a filling fraction of 0.99, 1.96, 4.76, 9.09 wt.% of CNTs (carbon nanotubes) to fabricate composite filaments with a diameter of 1.75 mm. Detailed mechanical and electrical investigations of printed test samples were performed. The results demonstrate that CNT content has a significant influence on mechanical properties and electrical conductivity of printed samples. Printed samples obtained from high CNT content composites exhibited an improvement in the tensile strength by 12.6%. Measurements of nanocomposites’ electrical properties exhibited non-linear relation between the supply voltage and measured sample resistivity. This effect can be attributed to the semiconductor nature of the CNT functional phase and the occurrence of a tunnelling effect in percolation network. Detailed I–V characteristics related to the amount of CNTs in the composite and the supply voltage influence are also presented. At a constant voltage value, the average resistivity of the printed elements is 2.5 Ωm for 4.76 wt.% CNT and 0.15 Ωm for 9.09 wt.% CNT, respectively. These results demonstrate that ABS/CNT composites are a promising functional material for FDM additive fabrication of structural elements, but also structural electronics and sensors.

In this paper, we are focusing on comparing results obtained for polymer elements manufactured with injection molding and additive manufacturing techniques. The analysis was performed for fused deposition modeling (FDM) and single screw injection molding with regards to the standards used in thermoplastics processing technology. We argue that the cross-section structure of the sample obtained via FDM is the key factor in the fabrication of high-strength components and that the dimensions of the samples have a strong influence on the mechanical properties. Large cross-section samples, 4 × 10 mm², with three perimeter layers and 50% infill, have lower mechanical strength than injection molded reference samples—less than 60% of the strength. However, if we reduce the cross-section dimensions down to 2 × 4 mm², the samples will be more durable, reaching up to 110% of the tensile strength observed for the injection molded samples. In the case of large cross-section samples, strength increases with the number of contour layers, leading to an increase of up to 97% of the tensile strength value for 11 perimeter layer samples. The mechanical strength of the printed components can also be improved by using lower values of the thickness of the deposited layers.

In this work, new electrically conductive composite filaments are developed for the fabrication of conductive paths, 3D printed with FDM technology. These composite materials consist of electrically conductive copper powder and a polymer matrix. The influence of three different polymers (ABS, PLA, PS) on the electrical properties of the composites was examined. Electrical measurements of the composite filaments with the increasing copper powder concentrations, allow identifying the percolation threshold for elaborated composites. Results show that the lowest resistivity (0.156 × 10⁻⁵ Ωm) was achieved for the ABS/Cu composite at the 84.6 wt% Cu concentration. The obtained resistivity values are much lower than for other conductive composites and nanocomposites filaments reported in the literature. Voltage-current characteristics determined for each composite material showed that composites have Ohmic characteristics in low voltage regime. At high voltage regime, the electrical power dissipated in the composites caused a rapid increase in temperature. It was discovered that a polymer matrix influences the maximum value of the electrical power that can be dissipated in the filament before losing electrical conductivity. Examples of conductive 3D printed structures made from elaborated composites are also presented.

The following paper presents a simple, inexpensive and scalable method of production of carbon nanotube-polyurethane elastomer composite. The new method enables the formation of fibers with 40% w/w of nanotubes in a polymer. Thanks to the 8 times higher content of nanotubes than previously reported for such composites, over an order of magnitude higher electrical conductivity is also observed. The composite fibers are highly elastic and both their electrical and mechanical properties may be easily controlled by changing the nanotubes content in the composite. It is shown that these composite fibers may be easily integrated with traditional textiles by sewing or ironing. However, taking into account their light-weight, high conductivity, flexibility and easiness of molding it may be expected that their potential applications are not limited to the smart textiles industry.

Rapid development of additive manufacturing and new composites materials with unique properties are promising tools for fabricating structural electronics. However, according to the typical maximum resolution of additive manufacturing methods, there is no possibility to fabricate all electrical components with these techniques. One way to produce complex structural electronic circuits is to merge 3D-printed elements with standard electronic components. Here, different soldering and surface preparation methods before soldering are tested to find the optimal method for soldering typical electronic components on conductive, 3D-printed, composite substrates. To determine the optimal soldering condition, the contact angles of solder joints fabricated in different conditions were measured. Additionally, the mechanical strength of the joints was measured using the shear force test. The research shows a possibility of fabricating strong, conductive solder joints on composites substrates prepared by additive manufacturing. The results show that mechanical cleaning and using additional flux on the composite substrates are necessary to obtain high-quality solder joints. The most repeatable joints with the highest shear strength values were obtained using reflow soldering together with low-temperature SnBiAg solder alloy. A fabricated demonstrator is a sample of the successful merging of 3D-printed structural electronics with standard electronic components.

Purpose: A comparison of electric and viscosity percolation threshold is crucial from the scientific and technical points of view to understand the features and capabilities of heterogeneous graphene composite materials and properly select the functional phase volume. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to present the analysis of the electrical and rheological percolation thresholds in the polymer–graphene screen printing pastes and the analysis of the relation between these two parameters. Design/methodology/approach: In the paper, the properties of polymer-based pastes with graphene nanoplatelets were tested: paste viscosity and printed layers conductivity. The tests of pastes with different filler content allowed to determine both the electrical and rheological percolation thresholds using power law, according to Kirkpatrick’s percolation model. Findings: The electrical percolation threshold for graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) in the composite was 0.74 Vol.% when the rheological percolation threshold is observed to be at 1.00 Vol.% of nanoplatelets. The percolation threshold values calculated using the Kirkpatrick’s percolation model were 0.87 and 0.5 Vol.% of GNPs in the paste for electrical and rheological percolation thresholds, respectively. Originality/value: Recently, GNPs are becoming more popular as the material of the functional phase in screen printing heterophase materials, because of their unique mechanical and electrical properties. However, till date no research presented in the literature is related to the direct comparison of both the electrical and rheological percolation thresholds. Such analysis is important for the optimization of the printing process toward the highest quality of printed conductive paths, and finally the best electrical properties.