Arizona State University

Ahmed Yousaf

Alexander A Green

Qing Hua Wang

Matthew Gilliam

Abhishek Debnath

Ximo Chu

A polymerizable composition for 3D printing includes a photocurable polymer resin and metal diboride nanosheets. The resulting polymer nanocomposite includes a polymer matrix and metal diboride nanosheets dispersed throughout the polymer matrix. A method of synthesizing a nanomaterial-containing resin for 3D printing includes preparing a dispersion of metal diboride nanosheets in a solvent, and combining the dispersion with a liquid polymer resin to yield the nanomaterial-containing resin. A method of fabricating a nanocomposite structure from the nanomaterial-containing resin includes providing the nanomaterial-containing resin to a three-dimensional printer, forming a three-dimensional structure with the three-dimensional printer, and processing the three-dimensional structure to yield the nanocomposite structure.

3D-printed nanocomposites with metal diboride nanosheets

Some embodiments include a method of producing metal diboride nanomaterials having thickness down to the atomic scale and lateral areas from 10 nm to over 1 &#x3bc;m by preparing a mixture of a metal diboride and a suspending solution. The suspending solution can be an organic solvent or a solution containing water, and optionally can include a dispersion agent, such as a surfactant, a polymer, small molecule, or biopolymer. Further, the method includes exfoliating the metal diboride by exposing the mixture to ultrasonic energy, centrifuging the mixture forming supernatant that includes a dispersion of exfoliated metal diborides, and extracting the dispersion from the supernatant. Some embodiments include extracting the supernatant and casting the solution by diluting the dispersion with a second suspending solution that includes dissolved polymer. This can result in a composite film includes a dispersion of the exfoliated metal diborides and provides improved mechanical properties.

Method of preparing metal diboride dispersions and films

Embodiments of the invention provide a lithium-free metal dichalcogenides functionalization method where a metal dichalcogenide including a surface of predominantly semiconducting 2H phase is reacted with an aryl diazonium salt by exposing at least a portion of transition metal dichalcogenide to the aryl diazonium salt in the absence of alkyl lithium or alkyl lithium. A substantial portion of the reaction of the at least one aryl diazonium salt with the at least one transition metal dichalcogenide occurs with the semiconducting 2H phase. The aryl diazonium salt can be 4-nitrobenzenediazonium tetrafluoroborate or 4-carboxybenzene diazonium tetrafluoroborate, and the metal dichalcogenide can be MoS. The semiconducting 2H phase of the transition metal dichalcogenide is derived directly from mechanical exfoliation such as mechanical cleaving and/or sonication.

Growing community of inventors

Tempe, AZ, United States of America

Ahmed Yousaf