Graphene 3D Lab’s business is pretty obvious from the name itself: they make and sell graphene 3D printing materials. Since graphene is the wonder material of the moment, that’s not a bad thing – but Graphene 3D Lab creates a lot more than just graphene materials. They also produce what we might call “ordinary” 3D printing materials i.e. non-graphs, but there is really nothing ordinary about either of them.
Graphene 3D Lab’s other 3D printing materials include magnetic and other specialty PLA filaments, as well as the recently launched line of flexible filaments. Today the company announced that it has added a new conductive filament to its flexible materials. The conductive flexible TPU filament combines the rubbery TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) material from Graphene 3D Lab with highly electrically conductive properties that make it ideal for flexible electronics.
“We are very excited to bring such an innovative filament to our ever-evolving line of products,” said Elena Polyakova, Co-CEO of Graphene 3D Lab. “The improvements to our production facility equipment and extensive research by our employees have given us the opportunity to now offer an exciting new product that has two of the most sought-after 3D printing properties: flexibility and conductivity.”
Possible applications for the new material are flexible sensors, flexible conductor tracks and electrodes for portable electronic devices as well as medical devices, pressure-sensitive keys, digital keyboards and trackpads, electromagnetic / high-frequency shielding and much more. (Note: Graphene 3D Lab recommends the material for low power applications of no more than 12 volts.)
“Additive manufacturing enables technology for small innovative companies that use 3D printing to create their prototypes. By adding the conductive flexible TPU filament to our line of functional 3D printing filaments, we have expanded the capabilities of 3D printing, shortening the path from development to commercial use. We believe our new filament will perform well in thriving business communities such as new wearable electronics product developers, ”said Co-CEO Daniel Stolyarov.
The conductive flexible TPU has a volume resistivity of <1.25 Ω-cm and a hardness of Shore 90 A. Some of the printing parameters recommended by Graphene 3D Lab include:
- Extruder temperature: 210 ° C.
- Platform temperature: 20-50 ° C.
- Printing speed: 2400 mm / min
- Nozzle size:> 0.4 mm
Conductive Flexible TPU is currently available from BlackMagic3D, the online materials store. The material, which comes in a 1.75mm diameter, is matte black in color and costs $ 45 for a 100 gram spool. It is the second conductive filament from the Graphene 3D Lab, which also introduced a conductive graphene filament last year. Conductive Flexible TPU is not only more physically flexible, but also more versatile in terms of applications – especially when electronics penetrate more demanding areas such as wearables. Discuss further on the Graphene 3D Flexible TPU Filament Forum on 3DPB.com.
