Methacrylic acid grafted nanocellulose enhanced light curing 3D printing

The incorporation of nanocellulose (CNF) as a filler into resin matrix to enhance its mechanical properties has been studied by scientists for a long time, and the homogeneous dispersion of CNF is the focus of the research in this process. In this study, CNF was graft-modified using methyl methacrylate (MMA) and then dispersed into a light-curing resin with methyl methacrylate (PMMA) as the base at different concentrations for DLP-type 3D printing. The successful preparation of PMMA-g-CNF was demonstrated using FTIR spectroscopy. At the same time, its water contact angle and dispersion were characterized to prove the success of hydrophobic modification, which slightly reduced the crystallinity of the modified samples without changing the crystal shape. The tensile strength of the 3D printed samples added with PMMA-g-CNF improved after sufficient esterification by the post-curing process. When the addition amount was 0.75%, the tensile strength was improved by 114.8%. The microscopic morphology of the 3D printed products was also observed by scanning electron microscopy, which showed that PMMA-g-CNF was more uniformly dispersed in the resin matrix than CNF, and its use as a filler disperse stress contributed to the mechanical strength.