Development of polypropylene-based composites through fused filament fabrication: The effect of carbon-based fillers

Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is the most widespread additive manufacturing technique for polymeric ma-terials. However, only a limited number of materials are available to be processed through this technique. Polypropylene and its composites are extremely versatile materials which are employed in a wide range of ap-plications, but their use in FFF has not been much investigated due to issues related to adhesion and warping. In this work, composites having polypropylene as matrix and different carbonaceous fillers, namely carbon nano -tubes and carbon fibers, were developed using FFF. Compounding, filament extrusion and FFF processes were successfully developed and optimized for each material. The materials were characterized in terms of their thermo-physical properties and the effect of the fillers on these properties was investigated. The addition of carbon fibers led to a significant improvement of mechanical properties, and a more moderate increase was observed in the case of carbon nanotubes addition.

Automated summary

Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is widely used for polymeric materials, but limited materials can be processed. Polypropylene and its composites, being versatile, have not been extensively studied in FFF due to adhesion and warping issues. In this study, composites of polypropylene with carbonaceous fillers (carbon nanotubes and carbon fibers) were developed using FFF. Processes for compounding, filament extrusion, and FFF were optimized, and the effect of fillers on the thermo-physical properties of the materials was investigated. The addition of carbon fibers significantly improved mechanical properties, while carbon nanotubes showed a moderate increase.