Application of Bis[2-(3,4-epoxycyclohexyl)ethyl] octamethyltetrasiloxane in the Preparation of a Photosensitive Resin for Stereolithography 3D Printing

Abstract

Bis[2-(3,4-epoxycyclohexyl)ethyl]octamethyltetrasiloxane is also called diepoxycyclohexylethyl octamethyltetrasiloxane. In the present paper, diepoxycyclohexylethyl octamethyltetrasiloxane was synthesized, and the synthesized product was characterized by FTIR and ¹HMR. The synthesized product was compounded with some acrylates and an expoxide as well as photoinitiators to obtain a 3D printing stereolithography resin (3DSLR111). The properties of 3DSLR111 and its UV-cured samples were investigated by some instruments and equipments. The experimental results show that the critical exposure (E _c) of 3DSLR111 is 10.1 mJ/cm², its penetration depth (D _p) is 0.15 mm, and its viscosity at 30 °C is 319 mPa·s. Some samples were printed with 3DSLR111, and their linear shrinkage and warping factor were evaluated. The linear shrinkage and the curl distortion factor are less than 0.80% and 7.30%, respectively, which indicates that the sample printed with 3DSLR111 has high accuracy, and that the synthesized diepoxycyclohexylethyl octamethyltetrasiloxane can be well applied to the preparation of the photosensitive resin for stereolithography 3D printing.

Keywords

stereolithography / laser / photosensitive resin / accuracy / 3D printing