Thermoplastic starch based blends as a highly renewable filament for fused deposition modeling 3D printing

3D printing technology is considered as a highly flexible method which can achieve a various customized end products. The employment of bio-based materials can significantly decrease the environmental footprint of the end 3D printing products. This study presents the preparation of thermoplastic starch (TPS)/poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/poly(butyleneadipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) composite that dedicated for the FDM 3D printing technology, the ratio of TPS:PLA:PBAT was fixed at 50:40:10 wt%. In addition, the chain extender ADR4468 (CE) was added to improve the brittleness of the blends to obtain better 3D printing filament. The mechanical properties of blends were improved by the addition of CE with 113 % increase in elongation at break and the 190 % raise in impact strength. Dynamic rheological analysis showed the maximum degree of complex viscosity and melt strength when the content of CE reached 1 wt%. The successful printability of TPS-based filament was demonstrated by accurate and complex printing samples. This paper provided a method to prepare highly renewable filaments for 3D printing.