Synthesis Of A Conductive Polymer For Potential Use In Printing Prosthetic Hands Using FDM Technique

• Main Authors: Zhong, Shaohong, Chor, Cheryl Yan Ting, Tan, Guoxian, Lin, Helen Jia Qi
• Other Authors: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Progress in Additive Manufacturing (Pro-AM 2016)
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Fused Deposition Modelling; Carbon Nanotube
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/84589; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/41858
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Current prosthetic hands are often lacking in feedback mechanism while being very expensive. The Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) technique provides a cost effective method to directly produce prosthetic hands especially for third-world countries. This study aims to synthesise a conductive composite material with good mechanical properties that could be used to print prosthetic hands using the FDM technique. An ABS/CNT composite material was synthesised via solution processing. The rule of mixtures and Zare’s model were used to analyse the mechanical properties while the percolation threshold theory and excluded volume theory were used for analysing the electrical properties. Results indicate that the material had good dispersion and retained the aspect ratio of CNT, thereby achieving good mechanical and electrical properties.