MineMan
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3D printing Fluropolymer Lab Equipment
Hello All,
I just acquired FEP and plant to start 3D printing with it... the implications of this are exciting, being able to print connectors, beakers and other
lab parts of custom shape with the chemical resistance of Teflon.
What would you suggest would be the most interesting lab items to create from FEP that would contribute most to this forum and amateur chemists?
My main plan is to print products for myself, but if this could lead to a niche market I am curious to hear your feedback??
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VSEPR_VOID
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Is it fused filament fabrication or something like that? I would try making microscale ground "glass" if I had that sort of stuff.
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JJay
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It looks quite good in terms of corrosion resistance, but the melting point is only 260 C.... it would be nice to have some stir paddles that do not
have a metal core.
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MineMan
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Yes the disadvantage of FEP is the low melt temperature...
Vsper, no would be me extruding the pellets into filament and then 3D printing whatever object necessary. How would a fluropolymer apply to
microscale ground "glass".. I am not familiar enough to know. Ok I just looked it up, yes I could print parts like that.
[Edited on 1-11-2018 by MineMan]
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VSEPR_VOID
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How inert is it? Could you use in some reactions or distillations?
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DJF90
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This might be useful/interesting in terms of print parameters:
https://www.plastic2print.com/175mm-fep-filament-0-75kg.html
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MineMan
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It is very inert. Very!!
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andy1988
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Quote: Originally posted by MineMan  | Hello All,
I just acquired FEP and plant to start 3D printing with it... the implications of this are exciting, being able to print connectors, beakers and other
lab parts of custom shape with the chemical resistance of Teflon.
What would you suggest would be the most interesting lab items to create from FEP that would contribute most to this forum and amateur chemists?
My main plan is to print products for myself, but if this could lead to a niche market I am curious to hear your feedback?? |
Looking at this today, looking into acid digestion within a household microwave for ICP-MS sample preparation.
"A simple design for microwave assisted digestion vessel with low reagent consumption suitable for food and environmental samples":
| Quote: | | A laboratory made polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) vessel was designed with a relatively thicker wall compared to commercial vessels while a silicone
based polymer O-ring was used as a safety valve. The suggested vessel has been patented in Iran with patent no. 71522-1390/06/26, 2011 (Rima
Instrument, Iran). In this design, eight vessels were placed onto an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) holder to keep them safe and stable.
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Figure 1. Figure 3.
I can see a cheap PTFE(?) vessel on ebay for $8 USD shipped from China, but note the thin walls, may not work in house microwave, I'm not sure. Guess I'll find out. PTFE melt
temperature (327*C) doesn't look too much higher than FEP (260*C). Maybe I could use some sort of heat sink transparent to microwaves to keep the thin walled vessel temperature down (e.g. embed in a tin
cured silicone blob within a beaker?).
I suppose the relevance here is that lab microwaves designed for acid digestion are expensive... an amateur would be interested in using a household
microwave (avoiding an open vessel so as to not lose any analyte due to evaporation).
[Edited on 5-2-2019 by andy1988]
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