UV curable resins - RepRap

Re: UV curable resins
July 18, 10:02AM Registered: 18 years ago
Posts: 304

Hi guys, this is my first post and it’s a little off topic, so I hope you don’t mind.

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I’m an architecture grad student in LA, and I’m working on a new kind of 3D printer that’s fast and large scale (16 inches hour!). The resolution isn’t high right now, it’s just a prototype, and eventually I’ll have pictures to share. We’re going to start by printing furniture and maybe prosthetic limbs. Anyway, I’m trying to find a source for cheap UV resin, hopefully zero VOC. Wahoo is great and very fairly priced, but we’re on a serious budget, and I was wonder if anyone with connections or background in the marine world would know of a source for maybe left over resin (is there such a thing?), or maybe we could buy some from someone with a business that’s getting bulk discounts. We’d love to get a 55 gallon drum for testing. I’m looking into a few grants, but I thought it might be a good idea to reach out to this community. 

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

kyle 

Jewlery is high cosmetic grade but not structural and not for composites.  Super expensive too.  Nail polish is solvent based acrylic and also not for composites. Flooring is highly scuff and scratch resistant (lots of additives to achieve that) which makes them too flexible for use in composites. Not cheap either.  It’s also generally very slow reacting. Dental UV epoxies are around too.  $50 a gram!  But they are awesome and at 50 a gram should be.  Aerospace resins have to get FAA aproval.  Takes 5 years and costs a fortune so they never get any improved formulations. Only huge companies like Dow are into that game. They’ve been using the same crap for 50 years.  Marine is just getting to modern epoxies in the last 5 years.  Surfboard epoxies have been there for 30.  Sorry for the rant but just thought I might save you some time.  High grade?  Take an F-15 out to the impact zone at Jaws and see what’s left after one wave. Same with most boats.  Surfboards break yes, but put anything else out there and see what happens.

Hey there, Rey here from Entropy Resins. Just to answer your question, you are on the right track with Epoxy Acrylates for UV cure. They do tend to be more expensive though. Check out Cytec. They are a leader in this area. Unfortunately we don't do that chemistry, so we don't offer UV cure systems...yet.

Also, I apologize ahead of time for my rant, but Greg can't get away with another cheap shot at Entropy.

I just wanted to set the record straight about Entropy Resins. Greg is 100% INCORRECT on his comment that Entropy is 'greenwashing' . We take our bio-content and Eco claims seriously and have worked closely with the USDA (federal gov't) using ASTM third party (internationally recognized standards) testing to verify our green content and to quantify our carbon footprint benefits to our resins. I have yet to see another single resin company, including Resin Research put their money where their mouth is and actually quantify and report the claims that they have products with equal or higher bio-contents to Entropy Resins. To date Entropy is the only epoxy resin that is part of the USDA BioPreferred Program where a company voluntarily discloses its bio-content to the public.

http://www.entropyresins.com/certifications

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I personally find it tiresome and ridiculous that Greg would continuously slander our products and work at Entropy Resins, while we seem to be the only company working for positive change and total transparency in the composites industry. I should, also mention that we have third party tested (using ASTM D) the bio contents of other resin companies claiming to have bio content of same or higher content than Entropy, including Resin Research. They don't even come close. Try 0-6% max.... Our lowest is 16% all the way up to 70% biobased, and we are always working to improve that.

Yes, there are bio-based ingredients that the industry has used as reactive diluents, i.e. soy, linseed, palm, etc. But these are DILUENTS, that work to weaken or plasticize the epoxy. Everybody uses these to make coatings especially. But the problem is that you can't get a high enough strength for composites when you approach higher than 6-10% content or so, using these traditional diluents. The hard part is finding a way to use bio-based ingredients at a significant enough level (above 25% according to USDA) without weakening the resin so that they are still of composite worthy performance. We've found that balance.

Entropy has a proprietary GREEN chemistry to make an identical molecule to epoxy, but using plant based feedstocks instead of petroleum feedstocks. So performance wise, it's as strong as other off the shelf, petrol based epoxies. But more important than bio-content is the net result on the environment, as measured by carbon footprint. The chemistry we use to manufacture our resins saves on the water, chemicals, and total energy during manufacturing, especially since our bio-based feedstocks are sourced from waste streams of other industrial processes. There are fewer and safer chemical synthesis steps to finally get to our resins. This equates to a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions during manufacturing as measured by a standardized Life Cycle Assesment or LCA (ISO :). When you consider how many tons of Epoxy are consumed by the composites industry each year, the emissions savings starts to add up quick.

Anyway, I hope this was educational, and please Greg, stop making claims that you have not warranted.

Finally I'll just announce that Entropy is finally going to be offering something that the surf industry has been asking for us for a while... stay tuned for a surf specific, USDA certified resin system from Entropy that will deliver on clarity, color, low yellowing, speed, and workability....competitive with other surf based epoxies.

Thanks for listening.

Rey Banatao

R&D and Formulations, Entropy Resins

Want more information on uv curable acrylic resin? Feel free to contact us.