Direct 3D Printing of Poly(lactic acid) on Cotton Fibers: Characterization of Materials and Study of Adhesion Properties of the Resulting Composites

Abstract

The aim of this work is focused on the direct 3D-printing of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) on a cotton textile substrate, and the study of the printing parameters that modify their adhesion. PLA samples are printed by using Fused Deposition Modeling technique (FDM), and three filling printing directions (45, 90 and 180°) are analyzed. The effectiveness of polymer deposition onto fabrics is studied by peeling tests. Adhesion tests revealed that samples printed with a filling direction of 45° presented the maximum adhesion force and separation energies twice higher than samples printed at 180°. These results suggest that printing at 45° filling direction results in higher entanglements between cotton fibers and printed polymer chains, by enhancing the interaction of both materials.