Electrochemistry of 3D printed architectures

Jahangir, Wasiq (2018) Electrochemistry of 3D printed architectures. Masters by Research thesis (MSc), Manchester Metropolitan University.

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Abstract

Recently, the fused deposition modelling (FDM) based additive manufacturing technique has gained the attraction for producing three-dimensionally printed electrochemical architecture (ECA). The FDM printer is fed by a thermoplastic filament which passes through a heated extruder to melt and cast it in the desired shape. In this research work, we explored the effect of 3D printing on the electrochemical behaviour of the conductive polymeric composites (CPC). The composites filament containing different electroactive materials were subjected to the electrochemical characterisation. The Polylactic acid (PLA) blend with the graphene, nano-graphite (NG), and carbon black (SP) showed that the bulk filament (BF) has higher heterogonous electron rate transfer constant (K0) (towards hexaamine-ruthenium(iii) chloride) as compared to their respective 3D printed electrode. Moreover, when the different parts of the same filament subjected to the voltammetry studies, all parts showed different K0 values. For example, tail-1, middle, tail-2, and the 3DE of the 20% SP/PLA showed the K0 of 2.824 x 10-4, 8.28 x 10-4, 4.88 x 10-4 and 2.39 x 10-4 cm s−1 respectively. These variable values of K0 proved that the homogeneity of the BF will be a challenge in future. The K0 of the BF of the 20% graphene/PLA and 20% SP/PLA composites were 3.2 x 10-4 and 2.824 x 10-4 cm s-1 respectively. These values are comparable to that of the conventional electrodes proving that in future these 3D printers can be employed in the manufacturing of the ECA. The composites with higher percentage filler loading showed the higher K0 value because of the higher conductivity. Moreover, the thin films with single polymer blend such as ABS filled with the electroactive material showed better electrochemical performance as compared with the CPC of ABS-PC. This trend validates that the individual polymer blend with the electroactive material is better for producing electrochemical architectures as compared to the blend with two immiscible polymers.