Photopolymer Resins with Biobased Methacrylates Based on Soybean Oil for Stereolithography

Abstract

The accessibility of renewable materials that are both sustainable and competitive is essential to accommodate the rapid growth in consumption of 3D printing materials. We have developed biobased photopolymer resins based on modified soybean oil for application in commercial stereolithography printers. First, soybean oil methacrylates with various functionalities were successfully synthesized from epoxidized soybean oil as an alternative to commercially available soybean oil acrylate. A library of photoresins was created by mixing up to 80% of the biobased (meth)acrylate oligomers with biobased diluents and a photoinitiator. The resin composition was optimized to achieve a maximum biobased content and a low viscosity. The manufactured parts demonstrated complete layer fusion and accurate print quality. Stiffness and toughness can be tuned by altering the chemical composition or the number of functional groups per oligomer. These biobased materials can be employed to reduce the environmental impact of additive manufacturing while being competitive with current fossil-based resins from commercial manufacturers.