Page 202 - IJB-10-6

International

Journal of Bioprinting

RESEARCH ARTICLE
Effect of graphene and graphene oxide addition

on crosslinking and mechanical properties of
photocurable resins for stereolithography

Sara Lopez de Armentia * , Raquel Giménez 2 id , Juan Carlos del Real 1 id ,
1 id
Berna Serrano 2 id , Juan Carlos Cabanelas 2 id , and Eva Paz 1 id
1 Institute for Research in Technology/Mechanical Engineering Department, Universidad Pontificia
Comillas, Madrid, Spain
2 Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering, Instituto Tecnológico
de Química y Materiales Álvaro Alonso Barba, University Carlos III of Madrid, Leganés, Spain

Abstract

The mechanical properties of the resins used in stereolithography are often
inadequate, prompting studies on their enhancement with nanofillers such as
graphene-based nanomaterials (GBNs). GBNs hold promise for enhancing the
mechanical performance of photocurable resins, yet their incorporation often leads to
unexpected alterations that impact the final nanocomposite. The full spectrum of GBN
effects on these resins remains incompletely understood, with many studies reporting
suboptimal improvements. This study aims to elucidate the influence of graphene (G)
*Corresponding author: and graphene oxide (GO) on the mechanical properties and polymer structure of an
Sara Lopez de Armentia acrylic photocurable resin used in stereolithography. The novelty of this research lies
(sara.lopez@comillas.edu)
in examining how GBNs affect the polymer structure during polymerization and the
Citation: Lopez de Armentia S, degree of crosslinking—parameters that have not been sufficiently explored—and
Giménez R, del Real JC,
Serrano B, Cabanelas JC, correlating these effects with photopolymerization outcomes. Stereolithography is
Paz E. Effect of graphene and particularly valuable in biomedicine thanks to not only its exceptional precision in
graphene oxide addition on creating patient-specific models, functional parts, implant devices or scaffolds for
crosslinking and mechanical
properties of photocurable tissue engineering, but also various other innovative uses across different industries.
resins for stereolithography. Through comprehensive tensile tests, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, differential
Int J Bioprint. 2024;10(6):4075. scanning calorimetry, Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy, and microscopy
doi: 10.36922/ijb.4075
analyses, it was found that GO enhances tensile strength but reduces the crosslinking
Received: June 28, 2024 degree, thus hindering overall improvements. These findings highlight the critical
Revised: August 13, 2024
Accepted: August 14, 2024 roles of nanomaterial dispersion, matrix-polymer interaction, and reinforcement in
Published Online: August 15, 2024 affecting proper crosslinking. Future studies should investigate the impact of varying
nanoparticle sizes on crosslinking to further validate these hypotheses.
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s).
This is an Open Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution Keywords: Graphene-based nanomaterials; Photocurable resin; Stereolithography;
License, permitting distribution, Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis; Crosslinking
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is
properly cited.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience 1. Introduction
Publishing remains neutral with
regard to jurisdictional claims in Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies have revolutionized the field of materials
published maps and institutional
affiliations. science by enabling the fabrication of complex geometries with high precision

Volume 10 Issue 6 (2024) 194 doi: 10.36922/ijb.4075