Mechnano
Assembly Line
We've got D'Func: A closer look at Mechnano's carbon nanotube technology for 3D printing
D’Func – discrete, dispersed, and functionalised carbon nanotubes – is the name given to Mechnano’s proprietary technology that addresses the challenges associated with utilising carbon nanotubes. This technology has been successfully applied to polymers for additive manufacturing, in turn, opening up possibilities for printed parts with better mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties.
Carbon nanotubes – or CNTs – are cylindrical structures of pure carbon. With a wall thickness of just a single atom, they are 10,000 times smaller than a human hair, 100 times stronger than steel, and possess 1,000 times the current capacity of copper. Yet, it’s been more than three decades since that initial discovery, and what was thought to be the next revolution in materials science hasn’t quite lived up to its potential, at least not for AM.
This challenge is the basis of Mechnano’s innovation with D’Func. It has been engineered to overcome the natural tendency for carbon nanotubes to agglomerate. Mechnano’s team of material scientists have applied different chemistries to the sidewalls of CNTs to ensure they remain stable and dispersed within a material matrix, ultimately delivering better performance and the potential to add new properties, such as conductivity.
Mechnano’s materials have also been validated and adopted by AM machine manufacturers such as Photocentric, Nexa3D, Arburg and Farsoon for the manufacture of static-dissipative parts. Last year Mechnano’s eco-friendly Polyketone ESD powder, its first laser sintering product, was qualified by Farsoon, and was also named as a finalist in this year’s TCT Awards Materials category. The material leverages Jabil’s low carbon footprint PK 5000 powder and incorporates D’Func technology to ensure parts with consistent electrostatic discharge properties at 107 ohms, while closely retaining Polyketone’s mechanical performance.