Novel Low-Crystallinity Polyetheretherketone Copolymers for 3D Printing.

Area of Science:

• Polymer Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Additive Manufacturing

Background:

• Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is a high-performance thermoplastic with excellent mechanical and chemical properties.
• Improving the processability and quality of PEEK parts in additive manufacturing (AM) remains a key challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize PEEK copolymers with varying 4,4'-dichlorodiphenylsulfone (DCDPS) content.
• To investigate the impact of DCDPS on thermophysical properties and mechanical performance.
• To optimize PEEK copolymers for fused deposition modeling (FDM) printing.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of PEEK copolymers with controlled DCDPS content.
• Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to analyze thermal properties (Tm, Tc, Tg, crystallinity).
• Tensile testing to evaluate mechanical properties (strength, elastic modulus).
• FDM printing trials to assess processability and part quality.

Main Results:

• Increasing DCDPS content lowered melting temperature (Tm), crystallization temperature (Tc), and degree of crystallinity.
• Glass transition temperature (Tg) increased with higher DCDPS content.
• Structural amorphization led to decreased strength and elastic modulus, except at 15% DCDPS where chain rigidity increased.
• PEEK copolymers with 5-20% DCDPS content enabled stable FDM printing without deformation or delamination.

Conclusions:

• Tailoring DCDPS content in PEEK copolymers allows for fine-tuning of thermophysical and mechanical properties.
• A DCDPS concentration of 15% offers an optimal balance, enhancing chain rigidity to counteract amorphization effects.
• PEEK copolymers with 5-20% DCDPS are suitable for FDM printing, ensuring high-quality parts with improved processability and performance.