Koltsov Semyon I, Statsenko Tatiana G, Morozova Sofia M
Center NTI "Digital Materials Science: New Materials and Substances", N.E. Bauman Moscow State Technical University, 2nd Baumanskaya St. 5/1, 105005 Moscow, Russia.
Infochemistry Scientific Center, ITMO University, Lomonosova street 9, 197101 St. Petersburg, Russia.
Polymers (Basel). 2022 Dec 17;14(24):5539. doi: 10.3390/polym14245539.
In this paper, we report a simple modification of a commercially available printer with fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology for the implementation of extrusion printing of hydrogels. The main difference between an FDM printer and a gel-extrusion printer is their material propulsion system, which has to deal with ether a solid rod or liquid. By application of plastic 3D printing on an FDM printer, specific details, namely, the plunger system and parts of the gel supply system, were produced and combined with a modified printer. Two types of printing of polymer hydrogels were optimized: droplet and filament modes. The rheological ranges suitable for printing for each method were indicated, and the resolution of the samples obtained and the algorithms for creating g-code via Python scripts were given. We have shown the possibility of droplet printing of microspheres with a diameter of 100 microns and a distance between spheres of 200 microns, as well as filament printing of lines with a thickness of 300-2000 microns, which is appropriate accuracy in comparison with commercial printers. This method, in addition to scientific groups, will be especially promising for educational tasks (as a practical work for engineering students or for the introduction of 3D printing into school classes) and industrial groups, as a way to implement 3D extrusion printing of composite polymer hydrogels in a time- and cost-effective way.
在本文中，我们报告了一种对市售打印机的简单改进，该打印机采用熔融沉积建模（FDM）技术来实现水凝胶的挤出打印。FDM打印机和凝胶挤出打印机的主要区别在于它们的材料推进系统，该系统必须处理固体棒材或液体。通过在FDM打印机上应用塑料3D打印，制作了特定的细节部件，即柱塞系统和凝胶供应系统的部分部件，并将其与改进后的打印机相结合。优化了两种聚合物水凝胶的打印方式：液滴模式和细丝模式。指出了每种方法适合打印的流变范围，给出了所得样品的分辨率以及通过Python脚本创建g代码的算法。我们展示了直径为100微米、球间距为200微米的微球的液滴打印可能性，以及厚度为300 - 2000微米的线条的细丝打印可能性，与商用打印机相比，这具有适当的精度。这种方法除了对科研团队有意义外，对于教育任务（作为工科学生的实践作业或作为将3D打印引入学校课程的方式）和工业团队而言也特别有前景，它是一种以经济高效的方式实现复合聚合物水凝胶3D挤出打印的方法。
