MSLA based 3D printing of highly piezoresistive polymer derived SiOC ceramics.
RAHMAN M. 1, KIM S. 1
1 University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
3D printing technologies give new direction to fabricate ceramic materials. Ceramic fabricated from liquid photosensitive resin using 3d printing give geometrical flexibility with high precision and reduce processing complexity. Among other vat polymerization 3D printing methods, masked stereolithography (MSLA) is cost effective, defect free and relatively faster. Using MSLA based low-cost 3D printer, we fabricated highly piezoresistive SiOC-SiC polymer derived ceramic matrix composite (PDCMC). Polymer derived SiOC ceramic exhibited piezoresistive properties when pyrolyzed above 1400oC due to the formation of free carbon in amorphous matrix which is comparatively very low in compare with SiCN. Despite showing piezoresistive properties, high processing temperature deteriorates the shrinkage, density, mechanical properties, increase surface cracking and porosity of 3D printed SiOC. Introducing SiC in amorphous SiOC matrix shows significant enhancement in piezoresistive properties at lower pyrolysis temperature. This newly fabricated PDCMC at lower pyrolysis temperature shows Young’s modulus and hardness of 60 GPa and 11.3 GPa respectively. At ambient temperature, this 3D printed material shows gauge factor of ~9000 which is higher than previously reported values. With properties commensurate to other functionalized ceramics, our method shows free form fabrication of high-performance ceramic material which have potential applications in various areas.