title: Microwave dielectric characterisation of 3D-printed BaTiO3/ABS polymer composites.
abstract: 3D printing is used extensively in product prototyping and continues to emerge as a viable option for the direct manufacture of final parts. It is known that dielectric materials with relatively high real permittivity-which are required in important technology sectors such as electronics and communications-may be 3D printed using a variety of techniques. Among these, the fused deposition of polymer composites is particularly straightforward but the range of dielectric permittivities available through commercial feedstock materials is limited. Here we report on the fabrication of a series of composites composed of various loadings of BaTiO3 microparticles in the polymer acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), which may be used with a commercial desktop 3D printer to produce printed parts containing user-defined regions with high permittivity. The microwave dielectric properties of printed parts with BaTiO3 loadings up to 70 wt% were characterised using a 15 GHz split post dielectric resonator and had real relative permittivities in the range 2.6-8.7 and loss tangents in the range 0.005-0.027. Permittivities were reproducible over the entire process, and matched those of bulk unprinted materials, to within ~1%, suggesting that the technique may be employed as a viable manufacturing process for dielectric composites.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Castles
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Isakov
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lui
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PH, United Kingdom.|International Institute for Nanocomposites Manufacturing (IINM), Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: C E J
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Dancer
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Janurudin
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Speller
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: C R M
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Grovenor
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Grant