Water soluble waxy support materials for three-dimensional printing applications
In one aspect, urethane waxes are described herein comprising a reaction product between monofunctional polyethylene oxide and polyisocyanate. In some embodiments, the urethane waxes are combined with other components to provide support materials for use in three-dimensional printing applications. A support material ink, for example, comprises a urethane wax comprising a reaction product between monofunctional polyethylene oxide and polyisocyanate. The support material ink, in some embodiments, further comprises monomeric curable material, oligomeric curable material, or mixtures thereof.
1. A urethane wax comprising:
a reaction product between monofunctional polyethylene oxide and polyisocyanate,
wherein the reaction product is of the formula:
wherein R is selected from the group consisting of alkyl, cycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, aryl, and heteroaryl, and m and n are integers independently selected from 6 to 20; and
wherein m and n are unequal.
2. The urethane wax of claim 1 , wherein R is alkyl.
3. A support material ink for use in three-dimensional printing comprising:
a urethane wax comprising the reaction product between monofunctional polyethylene oxide and polyisocyanate; and
a monomeric curable material, an oligomeric curable material, or mixtures thereof.
4. The support material ink of claim 3 , wherein the polyisocyanate comprises diisocyanate.
5. The support material ink of claim 4 , wherein the diisocyanate is alkyl-diisocyanate.
6. The support material ink of claim 3 wherein the reaction product is of the formula:
wherein R is selected from the group consisting of alkyl, cycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, aryl, and heteroaryl, and m and n are integers independently selected from 6 to 20.
7. The support material ink of claim 3 , wherein the urethane wax is present in an amount of 30 to 55 weight percent of the support material ink.
8. The support material ink of claim 3 , wherein the monomeric curable material comprises one or more monofunctional species.
9. The support material of claim 8 , wherein the monofunctional species comprises one or more polar moieties.
10. The support material ink of claim 9 , wherein the monomeric curable material comprises one or more species of acrylates or acrylate derivatives.
11. The support material ink of claim 9 , wherein the monomeric curable material comprises acryloyl morpholine.
12. The support material ink of claim 3 , wherein the monomeric curable material is present in an amount of 40 to 65 weight percent of the support material ink.
13. The support material ink of claim 3 further comprising one or more additives selected from the group consisting of photoinitiators, inhibitors, stabilizing agents, sensitizers, and mixtures thereof.
14. The support material ink of claim 3 , wherein the support material ink when cured has water solubility of at least 5 g in 100 g water at 35° C.
15. The support material ink of claim 14 , wherein the water solubility is 5 g to 100 g in 100 g water at 35° C.
16. The support material ink of claim 3 , wherein the support material ink when cured has a Shore A hardness of 80 to 110.
17. A method of printing a three-dimensional article comprising:
depositing layers of a support material ink;
curing the deposited layer of the support material ink, wherein the support material ink comprises the ink of claim 3 ; and
depositing a build material ink on the cured support material ink.
18. The method of claim 17 further comprising dissolving the cured support material ink with water.