(38c) Digital Light Processing of Highly-Filled Polymer Composites with Tailorable Mechanical Properties

The effect of surface chemistry and interfacial interactions on the mechanical and thermal properties of additively manufactured composites were investigated using a high volume fraction glass microsphere-reinforced system. Interfacial interactions between the resin system and glass microspheres were found to dictate the overall performance of the composites. Better resin-glass wettability led to simultaneous and anomalous increases in stiffness, toughness, and strength. Interestingly, composites where glass was functionalized to covalently bond with the resin phase only showed moderate improvements in mechanical properties as compared to systems with high resin-glass wettability.