Several new AM materials were announced in the past weeks.
We often receive notes from manufacturers that have developed new and unique materials, but most times the news value is relatively low and these do not warrant a story on their own. However, we thought we might bundle together several material announcements into one post, this one, for your review.
Evonik’s New Partnership and Reduced CO2 Footprint
Evonik, one of the leading producers of materials for additive manufacturing, announced its strategy to move to more sustainable practices will include a new grade of PA12 powders with “significantly reduced CO2 emissions”. These are available immediately, and will eventually replace their prior materials.
It was also announced that Stratasys has selected Evonik as a materials partner, with the intention of using Evonik materials in that company’s P3 Origin systems. The first material is “P3 Deflect”, which produces parts with quality similar to injection molded parts.
Nanoe Launches Zetamix SiC 3D Printer Filament
Nanoe, a French materials developer, announced the availability of a new filament made from Silicon Carbide. They explain:
“SiC material shows several impressive properties that have no equal in many fields : the material has a hardness level close to the diamond one, a high thermal conductivity, a resistance to wear and to corrosion, a high resistance to thermal shock in addition to be very lightweight. All these properties are ideal for cutting edge applications such as mirror for aerospace or heat exchanger.”
This material is used in a multi-step process involving printing, debinding and sintering and requires additional equipment capable of doing so.
I believe this is the first instance of a silicon carbide 3D printer filament on the market.
Smart Materials PP Support Filament
Smart Materials announced a new support material dedicated to PP applications. The new filament, Innovatfil PP Support, is available in 700g spools at a cost of €33.84 (US$33). Smart Materials explains the benefits:
”With INNOVATEFIL® PP, allowing users to fully benefit from the advantages of polypropylene to print pieces with geometries that require the use of support material, and also taking into account that traditional support materials like PVA, BVOH, HIPS, and so on, are not valid because polypropylene does not adhere to them. Until now, some users used PP itself as support with the difficulty that it is impossible to remove it manually, being necessary to machine or cut it, deteriorating the final finish of the piece.”
Photocentric Henkel
Photocentric announced a partnership with Henkel, which produces the Loctite brand of resins. The intent is to certify use of certain resins on Photocentric’s large production 3D printers, with details to be announced later this year.
Xioneer Opens Online E-Store
Xioneer, producer of speciality soluble support materials — particularly for high temperature 3D printing environments — has opened an online store where products can be directly purchased.
Fiberlogy FiberSmooth
Fiberlogy, one of the most innovative developers of unusual 3D printing filaments, introduced a new product they call “FiberSmooth”. It is a line of filament products all made from PVB material that is able to be surface-smoothed with an application of common IPA. This can be applied directly with a brush (or dip, I suppose) or through exposure to IPA vapors produced inside a suitable and safe vapor system.
Fiberlogy has launched the line with five colors: black, graphite, gray, red and blue, and expects to add more soon. One to come is “pure”, which will be completely transparent. That should work extremely well with a perfectly smooth surface!
Polymaker’s PolySmooth filament is also PVB. Prusa has their own PVB filament too. PolySmooth was launched with a unit called the PolySher that uses an ultrasonic nebulizer to create a fine mist of IPA, while the part spins on a turntable to ensure uniform exposure to the mist.