Mackiewicz Ewelina, Wejrzanowski Tomasz, Adamczyk-Cieślak Bogusława, Oliver Graeme J
Division of Materials Design, Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, Woloska 141, 02-507 Warsaw, Poland.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, P.O. Box 1906, Bellville 7535, South Africa.
Materials (Basel). 2022 Feb 12;15(4):1360. doi: 10.3390/ma15041360.
Catalysis has been a key way of improving the efficiency-to-cost ratio of chemical and electrochemical processes. There have been recent developments in catalyst materials that enable the development of novel and more sophisticated devices that, for example, can be used in applications, such as membranes, batteries or fuel cells. Since catalytic reactions occur on the surface, most catalyst materials are based on open porous structures, which facilitates the transport of fluids (gas or liquid) and chemical (or electrochemical) specific surface activity, thus determining the overall efficiency of the device. Noble metals are typically used for low temperature catalysis, whereas lower cost materials, such as nickel, are used for catalysis at elevated temperatures. 3D printing has the potential to produce a more sophisticated fit for purpose catalyst material. This article presents the development, fabrication and performance comparison of three thermoplastic composites where PLA (polylactic acid), PVB (polyvinyl butyral) or ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) were used as the matrix, and nickel particles were used as filler with various volume fractions, from 5 to 25 vol%. The polymer-metal composites were extruded in the form of filaments and then used for 3D FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) printing. The 3D printed composites were heat treated to remove the polymer and sinter the nickel particles. 3D printed composites were also prepared using nickel foam as a substrate to increase the final porosity and mechanical strength of the material. The result of the study demonstrates the ability of the optimized filament materials to be used in the fabrication of high open porosity (over 60%) structures that could be used in high-temperature catalysis and/or electrocatalysis.
催化作用一直是提高化学和电化学过程效率成本比的关键方法。近年来，催化剂材料有了新的发展，这使得开发新型且更复杂的装置成为可能，例如可用于膜、电池或燃料电池等应用中。由于催化反应发生在表面，大多数催化剂材料基于开放的多孔结构，这有利于流体（气体或液体）的传输以及化学（或电化学）比表面活性，从而决定了装置的整体效率。贵金属通常用于低温催化，而成本较低的材料，如镍，则用于高温催化。3D打印有潜力生产出更适合特定用途的催化剂材料。本文介绍了三种热塑性复合材料的开发、制造及性能比较，其中聚乳酸（PLA）、聚乙烯醇缩丁醛（PVB）或丙烯腈-丁二烯-苯乙烯共聚物（ABS）用作基体，镍颗粒用作填料，其体积分数从5%到25%不等。聚合物-金属复合材料被挤压成丝状，然后用于3D熔融沉积建模（FDM）打印。对3D打印的复合材料进行热处理以去除聚合物并烧结镍颗粒。还使用泡沫镍作为基材制备3D打印复合材料，以增加材料的最终孔隙率和机械强度。研究结果表明，优化后的丝状材料能够用于制造高开放孔隙率（超过60%）的结构，这些结构可用于高温催化和/或电催化。
