High performance polymer nanocomposites for additive manufacturing applications

Additive manufacturing (or 3D printing) involves the process of fabricating a part by layer-by-layer assembly of materials with processes such as extrusion, binding, melting, and photopolymerization. It is transforming how we assemble our prototypes and, in the future, manufacture our products. There have been a number of materials that can be utilized for this technology, however, high performance polymer nanocomposites are a very important class of material that is just recently being used in additive manufacturing. High performance polymer is a group of polymer materials that are known to retain its desirable mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties when subjected to harsh environment such as high temperature, high pressure, and corrosive chemicals. When mixed with nanofillers such as carbon nanotube, nanoclay, and graphene, these polymers can have improved mechanical properties and sometimes acquire properties that were not present initially like thermal and electrical conductivity. This review article aims to summarize available additive manufacturing techniques, high performance polymers and nanofillers available, and research efforts on its use for additive manufacturing.