Design of Functional Fluorine-Containing Coatings for 3D-Printed Items

In this study, a surface texture design technique for 3D-extruded prototype products was developed. The study determines some target functional properties of polymer-made items. Four series of experimental samples (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), polylactide (PLA), and polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG)) were 3D-printed using the fused filament fabrication (FFF) approach. The morphology and hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance of the surfaces of the experimental samples were regulated directly by the 3D design and by gas-phase fluorination techniques. The observed distilled water and ethylene glycol edge wetting angles of the surfaces of the experimental samples were determined by a 3D filament stroke arrangement. It was shown that varying the 3D design promoted hydrophobization and provided anisotropic wetting (the distilled water edge angle of the same sample varies from 76 to 116 degrees). The textured surfaces simultaneously demonstrated hydrophilicity in one direction and hydrophobicity in the other. The changing of the fluorine-containing gas mixture surface treatment duration allowed us to alter the hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance of 3D-extruded prototypes. The fluorination kinetics of the experimental samples were studied empirically. The combination of macroscopic surface design (through FFF 3D printing) and microscopic surface modification (through gas-phase fluorination) permitted a significant reduction in the straining friction coefficient and increased the wettability of the complex-shaped 3D-printed products.