UV curable metal composites formulations

• Main Author: Tan, Hui Ching
• Other Authors: Hng Huey Hoon
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2021
• Subjects: Engineering::Materials
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/147833
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

In recent years, there has been significant progress in the research area of additive manufacturing. Additive manufacturing is growing expeditiously and transforming the manufacturing process, enabling the rapid fabrication of complex three-dimensional products, well-catered to different applications. Within printable energetics, there has been increasing interest in research efforts in the areas of metal fuels. Metal fuel composites can be specifically designed and optimized to meet energy demands for energetic applications. A specific polymerization technique – photopolymerization, a process of rapid conversion of specially formulated, usually liquid solventless compositions into solid films by irradiation with ultraviolet light [1]. Some examples of photopolymerization based techniques include stereolithography, digital light processing (DLP), continuous liquid interface production (CLIP) [2]. These techniques facilitate the formation of complex multifunctional material systems with adaptable properties. One example of such systems would be the aluminium-fluoropolymer composite, renowned for its high volumetric energetic density. However, for such composite to be synthesized through additive manufacturing techniques, a suitable fluoropolymer binder is required. Due to the non-availability of such binder, such composites are hence not fabricable via additive manufacturing techniques. Therefore, in this research study, a branched fluoroalkyl polymer was synthesized through cationic ring-opening polymerization with a specific fluoromonomer and trimethylolpropane as an initiator. This synthesized fluoroalkyl polymer was made to undergo end group modification to form fluoropolymer urethane methacrylate. The methacrylate end groups are essential to ensure cross-linking takes place during UV-curing. In the last step, a metal composite is formed with the synthesized fluoropolymer urethane methacrylate and micron-sized aluminium particles. Energy release properties were analyzed through thermoanalytical techniques and would be further elaborated in later sections of this report.