Stereolithography resin compositions and three-dimensional objects made therefrom

1. A photocurable resin composition for three-dimensional photofabrication comprising:

(A) from about 3 to about 40% by mass of a cationically polymerizable compound having two or more bisphenol structures and one or more hydroxyl groups;

(B) from about 20 to about 85% by mass of a cationically polymerizable compound other than the component (A);

(C) from about 0.1 to about 10% by mass of a cationic photoinitiator;

(D) from about 3 to about 45% by mass of a radically polymerizable compound; and

(E) from about 0.01 to about 10% by mass of a radical photoinitiator;

wherein component (A) is an epoxy compound of the following general formula (1),

wherein R 1 represents —C(CH 3 ) 2 —, —CH 2 —, or —SO 2 —, k represents an integer from 1 to 4, and n represents an integer from 1 to 10, and wherein the component (A) has an epoxy equivalent of from 230 to 1,500 g/eq.

2. The photocurable resin composition according to claim 1 , wherein said composition further comprises (F) from about 1 to about 35% by mass of multilayer polymer particles.

3. The photocurable resin composition according to claim 2 , wherein said composition further comprises (G) a polyether polyol.

4. The photocurable resin composition according to claim 2 , wherein said multilayer polymer particles further comprise a core and a shell layer.

5. The photocurable resin composition according to claim 4 , wherein said shell layer contains functional group-modified rubber polymer particles having at least one reactive functional group.

6. The photocurable resin composition according to claim 5 , wherein said at least one reactive functional group is selected from the group consisting of an epoxy group, a hydroxyl group, a (meth)acryloyl group, and an oxetanyl group.

7. The photocurable resin composition according to claim 6 , wherein said at least one reactive functional group is an epoxy group;

wherein said epoxy group is an alicyclic epoxy group.

8. The photocurable resin composition according to claim 7 , wherein the multilayer polymer particles (F) have an average particle diameter of from about 10 to about 700 nm.

9. The photocurable resin composition according to claim 8 , wherein the multilayer polymer particles (F) have an average particle diameter of from about 100 to about 400 nm.

10. The photocurable resin composition according to claim 9 , wherein the amount of said at least one reactive functional group is from 1,000 to 2,500 g/eq.

11. The photocurable resin composition according to claim 10 , wherein the amount of said at least one reactive functional group is from 1,200 to 2,500 g/eq.

12. The photocurable resin composition according to claim 9 , wherein the component (B) further comprises a compound having an oxetane structure.

13. The photocurable resin composition according to claim 12 , wherein the component (B) further comprises a compound having a bisphenol structure.

14. The photocurable resin composition according to claim 9 , wherein (B) is selected from the group consisting of 3,4-epoxycyclohexylmethyl-3′,4′-epoxycyclohexanecarboxylate, bis(3,4-epoxycyclohexylmethyl)adipate, bisphenol A diglycidyl ether, bisphenol F diglycidyl ether, hydrogenated bisphenol A diglycidyl ether, hydrogenated bisphenol F diglycidyl ether, and 3-ethyl-3-hydroxymethyl oxetane.

15. The photocurable resin composition according to claim 12 , wherein the amount of component (A) is from about 5 to about 30% by mass.

16. The photocurable resin composition according to claim 15 , wherein n represents an integer from 2 to 5.

17. The photocurable resin composition according to claim 1 wherein component (D) includes about 60% by mass or more of the polyfunctional monomers having three or more ethylenically unsaturated bonds in one molecule in the total 100% by mass of the component (D).

18. A three-dimensional object made of a cured product of the photocurable resin composition according to claim 1 .

19. A three-dimensional object made of a cured product of the photocurable resin composition according to claim 17 .

20. A process for making a three dimensional article comprising the steps of:

(1) coating a thin layer of a composition onto a surface;

(2) exposing said thin layer imagewise to actinic radiation to form an imaged cross-section, wherein the radiation is of sufficient intensity and time to cause substantial curing of the thin layer in the exposed areas;

(3) coating a thin layer of the composition onto the previously exposed imaged cross-section;

(4) exposing said thin layer from step (3) imagewise to actinic radiation to form an additional imaged cross-section, wherein the radiation is of sufficient intensity and time to cause substantial curing of the thin layer in the exposed areas and to cause adhesion to the previously exposed imaged cross-section;

(5) repeating steps (3) and (4) a sufficient number of times in order to build up the three-dimensional article, wherein said composition is defined according to claim 1 .