Additively manufacturing fluorine-containing polymers

A method of forming a part via additive manufacturing, the method comprising the steps of:

• depositing additive manufacturing material onto a build platform, the additive manufacturing material including fluorine-containing polymers being at least one of electrically conductive and static dissipating;
• selectively cross-linking portions of the deposited additive manufacturing material;
• and
• curing the selectively cross-linked portions such that the part is at least one of electrically conductive and static dissipating.

A stereolithographic additive manufacturing system for forming a part via additive manufacturing, the additive manufacturing system comprising:

• a build platform configured to support an additive manufacturing material thereon, the additive manufacturing material being a mixture including fluorine-containing polymers being at least one of electrically conductive and static dissipating, and at least one of graphite, graphene, and carbon;
• an energy source configured to selectively cross-link portions of the additive manufacturing material;
• and
• a cure device configured to cure the additive manufacturing material such that the part is at least one of electrically conductive and static dissipating.

An additive manufacturing system for forming a part via additive manufacturing, the additive manufacturing system comprising:

• a build platform configured to support the part as it is formed;
• an additive manufacturing material reserve that retains an additive manufacturing material including fluorine-containing polymers being at least one of electrically conductive and static dissipating and a supplemental material including at least one of graphite, graphene, and carbon;
• a functional material reserve that retains a functional material configured to promote mixing of the fluorine-containing polymers with the supplemental material when added to the additive manufacturing material;
• a mechanical mixer downstream of the additive manufacturing material reserve and the functional material reserve, the mechanical mixer being configured to selectively add the functional material to the additive manufacturing material to form an additive manufacturing material mixture;
• a material depositor downstream of the mixer, the material depositor being configured to deposit the additive manufacturing material mixture onto the build platform;
• a laser configured to selectively cross-link portions of the deposited additive manufacturing material mixture;
• and
• a processor communicatively coupled to the mechanical mixer, the material depositor, and the laser, the processor being configured to:
• instruct the mechanical mixer to selectively add the functional material to the additive manufacturing material according to computer-aided design (CAD) data of an electronic circuit pattern;
• instruct the material depositor to deposit the additive manufacturing material mixture onto the build platform and previously constructed layers according to the CAD data;
• and
• instruct the laser to trace over deposited layers according to the CAD data such that portions of the part are at least one of electrically conductive and static dissipating.