MATERIALS COMPATIBILITY STUDY FOR THREE-DIMENSIONAL PRINTER MATERIALS

The emergence of three-dimensional (3D)-printed technologies brought about a modern-day industrial revolution. The 3D printers were evaluated by the U.S. Army soldiers for use in austere field environments as well as in research laboratory settings. A comprehensive understanding of how 3D-printed materials behave upon exposure to chemical solvents will allow for the selection of materials that are best suited to the needs of individual assays. The experimental approach was designed to detect and identify compounds that leach from the 3D materials to prevent undesired outcomes or interferences. The 3D materials were printed into uniform tensile bars and exposed to the selected solvents (water, sodium hydroxide, acetone, and acetonitrile) overnight. After exposure, the solvents were examined on the appropriate mass spectrometer (gas or liquid) to identify the compounds that leached from the 3D-printed materials. All sample combinations were examined in quintuplicate, and the leachate was observed in all samples. Some of these leachates showed spectral matches to the National Institute of Standards and Technology compound library. This project demonstrated the need to characterize the chemical materials compatibility of 3D-printed materials in the corresponding solvent conditions and to examine the different decontamination methods used to dispose of agent-exposed objects.