Additive manufacturing in polymer research: Advances, synthesis, and applications

Abstract

This study delves into how additive manufacturing has revolutionized the production of polymers over the last three decades. Traditional polymer production finds it difficult to fulfill the demanding needs of a wide range of applications, even as it faces issues with environmental sustainability and decreased plastic waste. On the other hand, AM provides unmatched design freedom, expedited time-to-market, and reduced material waste while enabling quick fabrication of complex structures. The uses of polymer additive manufacturing (AM) in the consumer products, automotive, aerospace, and medical implant sectors are examined in this paper. Polymeric materials created by AM provide several benefits, including as improved design flexibility, less material waste, lighter weight, and the ability to include complex functionality. This paper addresses the need for it by emphasizing the improved material composition and structural modification capabilities that AM brings to polymer synthesis. The use of methods for evaluating polymer material quality and performance in AM, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), is covered. The review also highlights the challenges that additive manufacturing (AM) in polymers is facing now as well as its bright future, which might lead to massive growth and the upheaval of several sectors. This analysis gives a thorough overview of the changing field of polymer additive manufacturing by providing insights into the particular findings of the study and by clearly stating its goals, objectives, and differences from earlier studies.