Additive manufacturing of electric circuits based on graphene polymer nanocomposites

This study investigates the conductivity of 3D printed conductor paths made of graphene polymer nanocomposite via fused layer modelling. Due to its high electrical conductivity graphene can decrease the electrical resistance of otherwise insulating polymers by several orders of magnitude once the filler content is above the electrical percolation threshold. Nevertheless, the processing parameters and geometrical conditions have significant influence on the electrical conductivity. Due to the anisotropic character of additive manufactured parts the slicing, filling strategies and building direction as well as the processing parameters like extruder temperature, printing speed, layer width and thickness strongly determine the final conductivity of the printed path. To measure the resistance of the composite a DC power supply and a digital multimeter was used. The structure of the specimens was examined by computer tomography. An electric torch as demonstrator was realized successfully.