Influence of alumina and PMMA on mechanical properties and aging behavior of 3D printed PLA composites: A comparative study

This study intends to investigate the mechanical, thermal, and aging behaviors of 3D-printed PLA (polylactic acid)-blend with 10% polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and 10% alumina polymer composites for biomedical applications using compressive, DSC, and DMA analysis. The experimental results revealed that aged PLA blend with alumina samples increased compressive strength by 60.1% and 37.8% during hydrolytic and enzymatic degradation, respectively, compared to aged PLA samples. Also, it was reported that the PLA blend with PMMA samples increased compressive strength by 51.1% and 24% after hydrolytic and enzymatic degradation, respectively, as compared to aged PLA samples. Furthermore, DSC analysis revealed that alumina blended samples had a higher Tg than pure PLA and PMMA blended samples. In addition, DMA investigation revealed that the Tg of aged neat PLA, PLA/PMMA, and PLA/alumina increased by 4.38%, 4.8%, and 4.6%, respectively, compared to unaged polymer composites. Additionally, PLA/alumina-aged samples exhibited stronger aging properties than neat PLA and PLA/PMMA blended-aged samples. It was reported that the weight loss of PLA/Alumina was lowered by 10.7% and 15.6% compared to aged PLA/PMMA samples, for hydrolytic and enzymatic aging respectively. It was found that PLA alumina has better mechanical, thermal, and degradation resistance than PLA materials.