Soybean Oil-Derived Acrylate/Methacrylate Ether for High-Resolution Additive Manufacturing

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is one of the rapidly developing techniques that may be used to prototype complex structures and sophisticated geometries that are typically challenging to produce with conventional methods. Thus, replacing petroleum-based plastics with renewable resources is increasingly important for additive manufacturing (3D printing) of photocurable resins. The use of biobased renewable resources in AM is a feasible alternative to traditional petroleum-based plastics. Henceforth, the development of sustainable inks has gained substantial interest in the modern polymer industry by reducing its environmental impact. In this context, vegetable oil is a valuable plant-based renewable source and is expected to be an alternate feedstock for 3D printing due to its broad spectrum of applications, affordable price, and potential biodegradability. In this perception, the present work demonstrates the development of soybean oil-based photocurable resins (ESBO_HEA/HEMA) for application in digital light processing (DLP) photopolymerization. At first, acrylated/methacrylated soybean oil (ESBO_HEA/HEMA) was efficiently synthesized from the corresponding epoxidized soybean oil by a one-pot oxirane ring-opening strategy as an alternate to conventional acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO) generated via acrylation between ESO and acrylic acid. A series of DLP inks for 3D printing have been formulated using synthesized soybean oil acrylate/methacrylate in the presence of photoinitiator (TPO) and or reactive diluents (trimethylolpropane triacrylate, TMPTA). Moreover, the rheological properties especially the resin’s viscosity of all formulated inks were investigated, which are in good agreement for DLP 3D printing. Additionally, the impact of the reactive diluent (TMPTA) on the thermal (DSC, TGA) and mechanical (DMA, tensile strength, and hardness) behavior of the 3D-printed object was also examined. Altogether, the present research work demonstrates the use of biobased and inexpensive soybean oil, which offered a simple method to prepare potential inks for DLP 3D printing that could be used in the additive manufacturing industry to make architectural models and automotive components, which opens new avenues for 3D printing that is sustainable.