Three-dimensional printing with glycidyl compounds
The present disclosure describes binder agents for printing three-dimensional green body objects, three-dimensional printing kits, and methods of three-dimensional printing. In one example, a binder agent for printing a three-dimensional green body object can include water, an organic co-solvent, a glycidyl compound having two or more glycidyl groups per molecule, and latex particles. The latex particles can include polymerized monomers. The polymerized monomers can include a first monomer having an acid group, and a second monomer having a vinyl group and without an acid group.
1 . A binder agent for printing a three-dimensional green body object, the binder agent consisting of:
water;
from about 20 wt % to about 40 wt % of a single organic co-solvent, wherein the single organic co-solvent is 1,2-butanediol;
a glycidyl compound having two or more glycidyl groups per molecule;
latex particles consisting of polymerized monomers, wherein the polymerized monomers consist of:
a first monomer having an acid group;
a second monomer that is a styrene monomer; and
a third monomer selected from the group consisting of an acrylate, a methacrylate, and a combination thereof,
wherein:
the second and third monomers make up a hydrophobic component of the latex particles, and wherein latex particles have a hydrophobic component content ranging from 85 wt % to 99.9 wt %; and
the latex particles have i) a first monomer content ranging from 0.1 wt % to 15 wt % and ii) a hydrophobic component content ranging from 85 wt % to about 99.9 wt %; and
optionally an additive selected from the group consisting of a surfactant, a biocide, an anti-kogation agent, and combinations thereof.
2 . The binder agent of claim 1 , wherein the glycidyl compound has a molecular weight ranging from about 100 g/mol to about 1,000 g/mol.
3 . The binder agent of claim 1 , wherein the glycidyl compound is selected from the group consisting of glycerol diglycidyl ether, neopentyl glycol diglycidyl, trimethylolpropane triglycidyl ether, polyethylene glycidyl ether, glycidyl triglycerol ether, 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether, and a combination thereof.
4 . The binder agent of claim 1 , wherein the glycidyl compound is present in an amount ranging from about 0.1 wt % to about 25 wt % with respect to a total weight of the binder agent.
5 . The binder agent of claim 1 , wherein the first monomer is selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, itaconic acid, and a combination thereof.
6 . The binder agent of claim 1 , wherein the latex particles are present in an amount ranging from about 1 wt % to about 20 wt %.
7 . The binder agent of claim 1 , wherein the single organic co-solvent is present in the binder agent in an amount of from about 26 wt % to about 30 wt %.
8 . The binder agent of claim 1 , wherein:
the single organic co-solvent is present in an amount of 26 wt %; and
the glycidyl compound is present in an amount of 1.5 wt %.
9 . The binder agent of claim 1 , wherein the glycidyl compound is selected from the group consisting of glycerol diglycidyl ether and glycidyl triglycerol ether.
10 . The binder agent of claim 1 wherein the third monomer is selected from the group consisting of carboxyethyl acrylate, carboxyethyl methacrylate, carboxypropyl acrylate, carboxypropyl methacrylate, and a combination thereof.
11 . A binder agent for printing a three-dimensional green body object, the binder agent consisting of:
water;
from about 20 wt % to about 40 wt % of a single organic co-solvent, wherein the single organic co-solvent is 1,2-butanediol;
a glycidyl compound having two or more glycidyl groups per molecule;
latex particles selected from the group consisting of i) a 31.4% solids dispersion of a copolymer of styrene, methyl methacrylate, and butyl acrylate with 1 wt % methacrylic acid and ii) a 32.4% solids dispersion of a copolymer of styrene, methyl methacrylate, and butyl acrylate with 3 wt % methacrylic acid; and
optionally an additive selected from the group consisting of a surfactant, a biocide, an anti-kogation agent, and combinations thereof.
12 . A three-dimensional printing kit, comprising:
a particulate build material comprising from about 80 wt % to about 100 wt % of metal particles; and
the binder agent of claim 1 .
13 . The three-dimensional printing kit of claim 12 , wherein the metal particles are selected from the group consisting of aluminum particles, titanium particles, copper particles, cobalt particles, chromium particles, nickel particles, vanadium particles, tungsten particles, tungsten carbide particles, tantalum particles, molybdenum particles, magnesium particles, gold particles, silver particles, particles of a ferrous alloy, stainless steel particles, steel particles, and an admixture thereof.
14 . The three-dimensional printing kit of claim 12 , wherein the metal particles have a D50 particle size of from about 4 μm to about 150 μm.
15 . The three-dimensional printing kit of claim 12 , wherein the glycidyl compound is selected from the group consisting of glycerol diglycidyl ether, neopentyl glycol diglycidyl, trimethylolpropane triglycidyl ether, polyethylene glycidyl ether, glycidyl triglycerol ether, 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether, and a combination thereof.
16 . The three-dimensional printing kit of claim 12 , wherein the glycidyl compound is present in an amount ranging from about 0.1 wt % to about 25 wt % with respect to a total weight of the binder agent.
17 . A method of three-dimensional printing, comprising:
iteratively applying individual build material layers of a particulate build material comprising from about 80 wt % to about 100 wt % of metal particles;
based on a three-dimensional object model, selectively applying a binder agent to the individual build material layers to define layers of a three-dimensional green body object, the binder agent consisting of:
water;
from about 20 wt % to about 40 wt % of a single organic co-solvent, wherein the single organic co-solvent is 1,2-butanediol;
a glycidyl compound having two or more glycidyl groups per molecule;
latex particles consisting of polymerized monomers, wherein the polymerized monomers consist of:
a first monomer having an acid group;
a second monomer that is a styrene monomer; and
a third monomer selected from the group consisting of an acrylate, a methacrylate, and a combination thereof,
wherein:
the second and third monomers make up a hydrophobic component of the latex particles, and wherein latex particles have a hydrophobic component content ranging from 85 wt % to 99.9 wt %; and
the latex particles have i) a first monomer content ranging from 0.1 wt % to 15 wt % and ii) a hydrophobic component content ranging from 85 wt % to 99.9 wt %; and
optionally an additive selected from the group consisting of a surfactant, a biocide, an anti-kogation agent, and combinations thereof; and
heating the three-dimensional green body object to drive off water and further solidify the three-dimensional green body object.
18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the glycidyl compound is selected from the group consisting of glycerol diglycidyl ether, neopentyl glycol diglycidyl, trimethylolpropane triglycidyl ether, polyethylene glycidyl ether, glycidyl triglycerol ether, 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether, and a combination thereof.
19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the heating comprises heating at a temperature ranging from about 100° C. to about 250° C. for about 5 minutes to about 8 hours.
20 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising fusing the three-dimensional green body object in a fusing oven at a peak temperature from about 600° C. to about 3,5000° C. for a period of time from about 1 hour to about 30 hours to fuse the metal particles together.