A new 50% plant-based resin has been added to Photocentric’s materials library, composed of an oligomer made from corn waste polyol and provides impressive properties, high accuracy, high tensile strength and low water absorption.
The 240 Bio Based resin is listed as suitable for both daylight and UV printers, making it ideal for Photocentric’s family of LCD-based SLA 3D printers.
Photocentric head of chemistry Dr Rob Young explained that Photocentric has looked at numerous bio-based raw materials, both from plants and bio-waste streams. “We have used monomers made from tree waste, camphene. It’s the most widely encountered terpenoid in nature, appearing in conifers and other trees as well as in fast growing plants such as cannabis and cypress.
“It can also before formed from alpha-pinene, further increasing its feedstock capability. Their chemical structure lends themselves to relatively trivial chemical processes to form monomers that have amazing diluting powers with high bio-content.”
Plants have evolved over generations to hold as much water as possible in a variety of conditions, making them an ideal source of material that inhibits water uptake.
Photocentric says the there has been an increasing demand for 3D resins made from sustainable sources, particularly as the technology moves towards mass manufacturing, with the need to calculate and reduce the total carbon content in the plastic chain becoming more pressing. Traditionally, oil-derived resins have supplied the vast majority of 3D printing resins, but the new generation of plant-based resin are now offering impressive properties. Previously there had always been a compromise on performance if a user wanted to go green.
“The journey to reducing the carbon footprint associated with 3D printing is now well underway,” said a Photocentric spokesperson. “Bio-based resins are now established and gaining a growing market share. They offer many advantages in their sustainability, reduced environmental impact, and localised production while no longer relying on external countries’ oil reserves, but they are now finally giving users enhanced properties.”
