Polymaker
Polymaker CF-Cell-Holder
Polymaker's PolyMide PA6-CF has been implemented in a Shanghai laboratory seeking to explore environments that mimic planetary core conditions.
Polymaker has announced the release of two new 3D printing materials, a carbon fibre-reinforced PA6 and a glass fibre-filled PA6.
Both materials have been developed with the company’s Fiber Adhesion Technology, which enhanced the layer adhesion of printed parts in the X, Y and Z axes. Due to their fibre reinforcements, PolyMide PA6-CF and PolyMide PA6-GF also boast high strength and high heat deflection temperatures, enabling them to be used in demanding environments.
PolyMide PA6-CF is the carbon fibre-reinforced grade, and offers the highest strength, impact resistance and heat deflection (215°C) of Polymaker’s entire material portfolio. It is also an ESD safe material, making it suitable for the production of electronic jigs and fixtures, as well as automotive applications.
PolyMide PA6-GF, meanwhile, is the glass fibre-filled material, also boasting good strength and stiffness. Its thermal and mechanical properties mean it can be used to print parts in a wide temperature range – the material has already been used to produce custom lab equipment working at temperature as low as -190°C.
They also have improved layer adhesion thanks to Polymaker’s Fiber Adhesion Technology, which optimises surface chemistry of the fibres to enhance dispersion and bonding to the polyamide matrix. This returns increased strength along the Z axis and reduced anisotropy compared to parts printed with a pure PA6 material. The Fiber Adhesion Technology was designed to address problems with layer adhesion when integrating fibres into materials and has allowed Polymaker to bring to market PolyMide PA6-CF and PolyMide PA6-GF.
Polymaker
Polymaker PolyMide PA6-CF GF
Polymaker’s latest products have already been applied by a Shanghai-based research laboratory, which is focused on investigating environments that mimic conditions found at the core of planets made up mostly of hydrogen and helium, like Saturn and Jupiter. HP Star has implemented 3D printing to create cell holders which contain steel cells to clamp hydrogen gas in between two diamonds. An infrared laser is then fired through the diamonds into high pressure chambers – created when the steel cells are tightened, and diamonds clamped together – to recreate the extreme temperatures and pressures found at planetary cores.
In HP Star’s Lab, PolyMide PA6-CF has been selected for its performance at high temperatures, its rigidity and strength producing a ‘really solid cell holder,’ per Dr. Dalladay-Simpson of HP Star, and the PA6-GF material has been used to create cryo boxes which are used to cryogenically cool the diamond tips so sampled can be condensed on them.
“Previously for custom lab equipment we expected a two to three-week lead time from our in-house machine shop and often we would need to further modify the equipment,” Dr. Dalladay-Simpson. “These new materials rapidly expedite that process, while also producing superior and more formative lab equipment.”
