A printing test with PEGDA using Form 1+

Hello, everyone! Rencently, I have done some experiments with PEGDA using Form 1+. The specific content is shown below.
Preparing materials
Photoresin was based on poly(ethylene glycol))diacrylate (PEG-DA) (MW 250) (Sigma Aldrich) mixed with a photoinitiator. The photoinitiator used in this study was Irgacure-819 (BASF Corporation). Irgacure photoinitiator was diserelved in PEG-DA at concentration of 0.2% wt/vol. All these steps were done in the dark to avoid spontaneous reaction with ambient light.
Without replacing the resin tank and the build plate, I tried to print some models. The results are shown below.


You can see that the surface quality and accuracy are so poor. Even worse, the channels ( diameter is 1mm ) are not printed out. The designed models are shown in the figures below.

I would like to know if there is any one who can help me analyze the reasons, and if so, I will be very grateful.

Sounds similar to this:
http://pubs.rsc.org/-/content/articlehtml/2017/ra/c7ra04492e

Do you have any UV absorbing pigments in your resin?

1 Like

Thank you for replying me so quickly. I didn’t add some UV absorbing pigments in my resin because I had learnt from a literature. The literature in which there is no UV absorbing pigments is showed in the link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303292740_3D-printing_of_transparent_bio-microfluidic_devices_in_PEG-DA .

In that paper the resin is cured with 385nm LEDs and not a 405nm laser like in the Form 1+. On the second page you will see they mention that curing with 405nm requires pigments.

I actually worked in a lab next to the lab that published that paper. A few years ago I asked Dr. Folch if we could use our Form 2 for 3D printed microfluidics, and he told me that it’s not a good choice because of the laser wavelength. :frowning_face:

Thank you for your enthusiastic answer and what you replied is very crucial. Whereas sometimes I think that there probably exist some biocompatible materials, which can be cured with a 405nm laser without pigments. Just like PEGDA(250) , which can be cured with 385nm LEDs without pigments. Once I find some polymers and their absorption peaks coincide with the emission spectrum of the light source of 405nm laser, this may come true.

The literature you gave is very very useful. Thanks a lot.

This topic was automatically closed 14 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.