Study of adhesion properties of direct 3d printing of poly(lactic acid) on cotton fibers

Abstract

The aim of this work was focused on the direct 3D printing of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) on a cotton textile substrate and the study of the printing parameters that modify their adhesion. PLA samples were printed by using Fused Deposition Modelling technique (bed and nozzle temperatures of 60 and 210 °C, respectively) and two filling printing directions (45° and 180°). PLA and cotton textile substrate were characterized by FTIR, XRD, DSC and TGA. In addition, adhesion was studied by peeling tests. Peeling tests revealed that samples printed with a filling direction of 45° presented a maximum adhesion force and separation energies twice higher than samples printed at 180º. These results could be attributed to a better surface connection between PLA and cotton fibers.