Characterization Of Polyhydroxybutyrate Properties As Additives Blend Material In Additive Manufacturing For Biomedical Device Fabrication

Nowadays, additive manufacturing, also called AM, has been recognized as one of the key elements of the industry 4.0 revolution due to its efficiency in productivity, decentralized production, and fast prototyping. The goal of this study is to investigate the mechanical and structural properties of polyhydroxybutyrate additive blend materials for additive manufacturing especially in medical applications. In prior to that, the blend between polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) with polyurethane acrylate (PUA) resins have been developed with PHB at concentrations of pure PUA, 6 wt%, 12 wt%, and 18 wt%. The printability of the blend resins was evaluated by using stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing method. Viscosity has a big role in affecting the printability of the 3D printed blend resins. The highest viscosity ratio that could be efficiently fabricated for PHB/PUA blend resins was at 18 wt% concentration which achieved a value of approximately 2172 centipoise (cP). Furthermore, a shift in the microstructure of PUA was discovered from the FESEM assessment, with more voids being detected. Moreover, the crystallinity index (CI) increased from 9.54% to 22.05% due to the rising of PHB content. This highlights the materials' brittleness characteristics, which contribute to the poor tensile and impact performance. Next, a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to study the effects of aging time and PHB loading concentration in PHB/PUA blends on the mechanical performance of tensile and impact parameters. Finally, based on analysis that had been done, 12 wt% composition was selected to be fabricated into a 3D finger splint due to its properties which are rigid but also provide flexibility at the same time that suitable in rehabilitation process.