Polycycloolefin 3D Printing Resin for High Impact Strength
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current 3D printing materials face challenges in achieving high thermal and mechanical properties, rapid curing speed, and cost-effectiveness for fabricating industrially useful objects with fine structures and patterns, particularly in maintaining stability and viscosity at room temperature while undergoing mass polymerization under photolytic conditions.
Innovation Solution
A single component composition comprising norbornene and dicyclopentadiene-based monomers with a latent organo-transition metal catalyst and a compound capable of releasing Bronsted acid under photolytic conditions, which undergoes mass polymerization to form 3D objects with high thermal and mechanical properties, such as high impact strength and low shrinkage, without requiring additional small molecule additives.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional 3D printing materials are used, then objects can be fabricated with fine structures, but the materials lack high thermal and mechanical properties and exhibit slow curing speed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical parameters of the polymerization system by using norbornene and dicyclopentadiene monomers with specific catalyst systems that enable both rapid photopolymerization and high thermal/mechanical properties. The glass transition temperature is elevated to above 150°C while maintaining fast curing kinetics through photolytic activation.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates a composite material system combining norbornene-based monomers with dicyclopentadiene crosslinkers and metal catalyst complexes. This composite approach synergistically achieves high impact strength, thermal stability, and rapid curing by integrating multiple functional components at the molecular level.
2Productivity
If materials are designed for rapid photopolymerization, then curing speed improves, but the materials become unstable at room temperature and change viscosity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a photolytically activated catalyst system as an intermediary that remains dormant at room temperature but activates rapidly upon light exposure. The metal complex catalyst and photoinitiator act as mediators that couple the stable monomer system with rapid polymerization, enabling room temperature stability followed by fast curing when activated.
3Strength
If high crosslinking density is achieved to improve mechanical properties, then impact strength increases, but the material requires additional small molecule additives that complicate the system
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the crosslinking function directly into the dicyclopentadiene monomer structure itself, eliminating the need for separate small molecule crosslinking additives. The bicyclic structure of DCPD provides inherent crosslinking capability that integrates with the norbornene polymer backbone, achieving high impact strength through a simplified single-component system.
4Productivity
If fast polymerization is achieved to improve production speed, then objects can be fabricated quickly, but the material exhibits high shrinkage due to rigid structure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by incorporating flexible alkyl chain segments within the rigid norbornene and dicyclopentadiene cyclic structures. These localized flexible regions act as molecular shock absorbers that accommodate polymerization shrinkage while maintaining overall structural rigidity and enabling fast curing, thus resolving the contradiction between speed and shape stability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The composition exhibits improved thermal and mechanical properties, including high glass transition temperatures, heat distortion temperatures, elongation to break, and impact strength, enabling the formation of objects with structural details below 50 μm and sizes greater than 10 inches, while maintaining stability at ambient conditions and rapid photopolymerizing capabilities.
Implementation Method 1
a compound capable of generating Bronsted acid with a counterion capable of coordinating and activating the latent catalyst
Implementation Method 2
undergoes mass polymerization to form solid objects
Implementation Method 3
a catalyst which is activated photolytically by a compound capable of generating Bronsted acid with a counterion capable of coordinating and activating the latent catalyst
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments in accordance with the present invention encompass a composition containing a latent catalyst and a compound capable of generating a Bronsted acid with a counterion capable of coordinating and activating the latent catalyst along with one or more monomers which undergo ring open metathesis polymerization (ROMP) and one or more multi-functional crosslinkable molecules when said composition is exposed to a suitable radiation forms a three-dimensional (3D) object. The catalyst system employed therein can be sensitive to oxygen and thus inhibits polymerization in ambient atmospheric conditions. The three-dimensional objects made by this process exhibits improved mechanical properties, particularly, high distortion temperature, impact strength, elongation to break, among others. Accordingly, compositions of this invention are useful as 3D inkjet materials for forming high impact strength objects of various sizes with microscale features lower than 100 microns, among various other uses.