A few years ago, several graphene producers released 3D printing materials enhanced with graphene. These materials enabled conductive non-metal materials, and enhanced the mechanical and thermal properties of these 3D printing filaments.
The market reaction, though, to these materials was cool. The materials did not provide a significant improvement, the price was high, and there were better alternatives available.
The work on graphene-enhanced 3D printing filaments did not stop, though. A few weeks ago, global advanced materials company Haydale released its next-generation materials, and these have much larger potential as the company has managed to improve the performance significantly.
Haydale offers two different filaments - one that adds electrical conductivity, and another (called SuperTough) that increase mechanical strength. Compared to its 1st-gen materials, the new materials offer a 46% improvement in layer-to-layer strength and up to 83% improvement in conductivity. Compared to baseline PLA, the new SuperTough material offers a 20% layer-to-layer strength compared to its nearest toughened PLA competitor.
Haydale explained to us the potential applications of its new materials, including ones that are currently in development:
The mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of the nanomaterial enhanced PLA filaments can be tailored to meet the needs of different applications and markets, including: rapid prototyping of more durable components, that are higher performance and more cost effective than standard PLA filaments, and 3D printed circuits, useds to create devices such as touch sensors to turn on/off light switches and automatic door openers using a hand in front of the sensor.
Haydale’s conductive material is bio-compatible, it is metal free, it is strong and highly
printable, and offers high conductivity. The SuperTough material offers similar strength as ABS, but is metal-green, bio-compatible and highly printable.
Contact us if you're interested in sampling Haydale's 3DP materials. More information can be found here.