Online Seminar  /  June 22, 2021, 3.00 – 4.00 pm

UV-curing materials on the basis of itacon acid for 3D printing – Potentials and challenges

In collaboration with industrial partners, we at the Fraunhofer WKI have succeeded in developing UV-curing materials with improved properties for additive manufacturing. The UV-curing component is based on renewable raw materials. The materials can be processed in commercially available techniques such as stereolithography (SLA), digital light processing (DLP) and multi-jet modeling (MJM). In the webinar, we present the research results in detail and discuss possible applications, for example in the automotive sector.

UV-curing materials for the additive manufacture of polymers are often based on radical-curing polyesters and polyurethanes. Acrylic acid is primarily used as the UV-curing component in these resins. Despite a relatively large choice of materials in this area, there is nevertheless a need for the further optimization of a number of properties of the cured components, in particular as regards thermal stability, brittleness and shrinkage. In collaboration with the companies Marabu GmbH & Co. KG, cirp GmbH, Schultheiss GmbH, BMW AG and Worlée Chemie GmbH, the Fraunhofer WKI intends to improve the properties of UV-curing materials for additive manufacturing. The key to this is provided by itaconic acid, which is extracted biotechnologically from sugar. It is a monomer which is produced biotechnologically in large quantities from renewable raw materials.

The project was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.