Additive manufacturing of strong silica sand structures enabled by polyethyleneimine binder

Dustin B. Gilmer; Lu Han; Michelle L. Lehmann; Derek H. Siddel; Guang Yang; Azhad U. Chowdhury; Benjamin Doughty; Amy M. Elliott; Tomonori Saito

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-25463-0

Additive manufacturing of strong silica sand structures enabled by polyethyleneimine binder

Dustin B. Gilmer, Lu Han, Michelle L. Lehmann, Derek H. Siddel, Guang Yang, Azhad U. Chowdhury, Benjamin Doughty, Amy M. Elliott, Tomonori Saito

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

Binder Jet Additive Manufacturing (BJAM) is a versatile AM technique that can form parts from a variety of powdered materials including metals, ceramics, and polymers. BJAM utilizes inkjet printing to selectively bind these powder particles together to form complex geometries. Adoption of BJAM has been limited due to its inability to form strong green parts using conventional binders. We report the discovery of a versatile polyethyleneimine (PEI) binder for silica sand that doubled the flexural strength of parts to 6.28 MPa compared with that of the conventional binder, making it stronger than unreinforced concrete (~4.5 MPa) in flexural loading. Furthermore, we demonstrate that PEI in the printed parts can be reacted with ethyl cyanoacrylate through a secondary infiltration, resulting in an increase in flexural strength to 52.7 MPa. The strong printed parts coupled with the ability for sacrificial washout presents potential to revolutionize AM in various applications including construction and tooling.

Original language	English
Article number	5144
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	12
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25463-0
State	Published - Dec 1 2021

Funding

The research was sponsored by the US Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Advanced Manufacturing Office. B.D. and A.U.C. performed sum-frequency generation measurements and analysis and were supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division. The authors would like to thank ExOne and specifically Dan Brunermer, Huayun Yu, and Rick Lucas for their input and advice on this research. The authors would also like to thank Harry Meyer, who assisted with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurement, and Alan Druschitz from Virginia Tech for his assistance with casting research. The authors would also like to thank Jackson Wilt for his assistance with figure formation. In addition, the author would like to thank Andres E Marquez Rossy and Quinn A Campbell for their assistance in collecting and collating the XRT data. The author is grateful for a fellowship from the Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Graduate Education.

Funders	Funder number
Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Graduate Education
U.S. Department of Energy
Advanced Manufacturing Office
Office of Science
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Basic Energy Sciences
Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1038/s41467-021-25463-0

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abstract = "Binder Jet Additive Manufacturing (BJAM) is a versatile AM technique that can form parts from a variety of powdered materials including metals, ceramics, and polymers. BJAM utilizes inkjet printing to selectively bind these powder particles together to form complex geometries. Adoption of BJAM has been limited due to its inability to form strong green parts using conventional binders. We report the discovery of a versatile polyethyleneimine (PEI) binder for silica sand that doubled the flexural strength of parts to 6.28 MPa compared with that of the conventional binder, making it stronger than unreinforced concrete (~4.5 MPa) in flexural loading. Furthermore, we demonstrate that PEI in the printed parts can be reacted with ethyl cyanoacrylate through a secondary infiltration, resulting in an increase in flexural strength to 52.7 MPa. The strong printed parts coupled with the ability for sacrificial washout presents potential to revolutionize AM in various applications including construction and tooling.",

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AU - Yang, Guang

AU - Chowdhury, Azhad U.

AU - Doughty, Benjamin

AU - Elliott, Amy M.

AU - Saito, Tomonori

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Additive manufacturing of strong silica sand structures enabled by polyethyleneimine binder

Abstract

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UN SDGs

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