Revolutionizing 3D Printing with High-Performance Polyurethane Foams
Polyurethane foams, which are difficult to recycle, have been successfully converted into high-performance 3D printing resins through a process of fragmentation and reconstruction. Researchers from Zhejiang University in China ground up the polyurethane foam and soaked it in dimethylformamide with a catalyst before reconstructing new polymer networks. The resulting 3D printing resins can be chemically fragmented and reused for another round of 3D printing. This upcycling process has the potential to make 3D printing more environmentally friendly and cost-effective, and it can be adapted for other types of thermoset polymers as well.