Ceramic green and fired body with a uniform microstructure prepared using living characteristics of photo-curable cycloaliphatic epoxide: Applicability of cycloaliphatic epoxide in photo-polymerization-based 3D printing

Abstract In photopolymerization-based ceramic 3D printing, light cannot efficiently penetrate the opaque slurry, which is composed of particles and a photo-curable monomer. This can result in a difference of the crosslinking density within the layer, which can cause problems such as cracking and distortion. In this study, we used a photo cationic polymerizable cycloaliphatic epoxide as a photo-curable monomer to produce a green body with uniform crosslinking density by the living characteristics of photo cationic polymerized cycloaliphatic epoxide. The green body prepared with cycloaliphatic epoxide based ceramic slurry was subjected to an additional polymerization process, which involved heating at 150°C. Because of the living characteristics of the cycloaliphatic epoxide, a green body with a uniform crosslinking density was created and the fracture strength was improved. In addition, the green body exhibited good adhesion properties between layers. Finally, a sound fired body could be produced without any changes in shape after firing.