Recycling and reuse of sulfonated polymer material in additive manufacturing
AssigneeStratasys, Inc.
InventorWilliam R. Priedeman, Jr.
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of recycling and reusing a tap water-soluble sulfonated polymer material from a structural component made using an additive manufacturing process comprises dissolving the structural component in water to disperse the sulfonated polymer material into the water. The sulfonated polymer material is precipitated from the water and recovered; then dried and reformed into a form suitable for subsequent use as a consumable feedstock in a subsequent additive manufacturing process.
Claims12
A method of recycling a water dispersible sulfonated polymer material used as a structural component in an additive manufacturing process, the method comprising:
- providing a tap water bath heated to a temperature above ambient;
- placing a printed part having an adhered support structure into the tap water bath, the support structure comp rising a water-soluble sulfonated polymer material;
- dissolving the sulfonated polymer material in the tap water bath to thereby create a dispersion consisting of tap water and the dissolved sulfonated polymer material;
- modifying the ionic strength of the dispersion by adding a salt to the dispersion at a concentration of between 1 gram/L and 10 grams/L, to precipitate the dissolved sulfonated polymer material from the water;
- recovering the precipitated sulfonated polymer material from the water;
- drying the recovered sulfonated polymer material;
- and
- reforming the dried sulfonated polymer material into a form suitable for subsequent use as a consumable feedstock in an additive manufacturing process.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.