Methods and systems for increasing surface smoothness of three-dimensional printed article

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10220409-B2
Application number	US-201415107927-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 15, 2014
Priority date	Apr 15, 2014
Publication date	Mar 5, 2019
Grant date	Mar 5, 2019

Abstract

Technologies are generally described to increase a surface smoothness of a 3D printed article implementing a water-based treatment using layer by layer (LBL) deposition. An initial 3D printed article having an anionic surface may be treated with a first aqueous solution comprising at least one polycation that may bind to the anionic surface to produce a first treated surface, which may be rinsed with water to remove the first aqueous solution. The first treated surface may be treated with a second aqueous solution comprising at least one anionic microparticle that may bind to the polycation to produce a final 3D printed article having a second treated surface, which may be rinsed with water to remove the second aqueous solution. The bound polycation and anionic microparticle may be present as a single layer in the final 3D printed article that may act as a conformal coating to increase the surface smoothness.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method to treat a surface of an initial three-dimensional (3D) printed article, the method comprising:
providing the initial 3D printed article that has an anionic surface;
treating the anionic surface with a first aqueous solution for a time period based on a first concentration of the first aqueous solution, wherein the first aqueous solution includes at least one polycation to produce a first treated surface; and
treating the first treated surface with a second aqueous solution for another time period based on a second concentration of the second aqueous solution, wherein the second aqueous solution includes at least one anionic microparticle to produce a final 3D printed article that has a second treated surface;
wherein:
the polycation binds to the anionic surface; and
the anionic microparticle binds to the polycation.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polycation is present in the final 3D printed article as a single layer that has thickness such that a smoothness of the surface of the final 3D printed article is higher than a smoothness of the surface of the initial 3D article.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
heating the final 3D printed article to a temperature above a glass transition temperature (T g ) of the anionic microparticle.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the surface of the final 3D printed article has a higher smoothness after the heating step than immediately before the heating step.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
adding at least one titania particle, at least one polyionic dye, or both to the second aqueous solution prior to the second treatment step.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the polyionic dye is a porphyrin dye or a phthalocyanine dye.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
adding at least one silica particle to the second aqueous solution prior to the second treatment step.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the final 3D printed article has a scratch resistance that is higher than a substantially identical final 3D printed article made without an addition of the at least one silica particle.

Assignees

• Empire Technology Dev Llc

Inventors

• Miller Seth Adrian

Classifications

• B29C71/0009

  using liquids, e.g. solvents, swelling agents (spectacle cases, e.g. for cleaning contact lenses A45C11/04; disinfecting or sterilising contact lenses A61L12/00, using liquid substances A61L2/20; cleaning involving the use of liquid in general B08B3/00; for hydrating contact lenses B29D11/00067) · CPC title

• B08B3/12

  by sonic or ultrasonic vibrations · CPC title

• B05C9/12

  the auxiliary operation being performed after the application (B05C9/14 takes precedence) · CPC title

• C08J2439/02

  Homopolymers or copolymers of vinylamine · CPC title

• C08J2433/10

  Homopolymers or copolymers of methacrylic acid esters · CPC title