Preparation of Silica Encapsulated Fe3O4 Microwave Absorber and Its Application in 3D Printing Inkjet Ink

Abstract

Objective In order to prepare the silica encapsulated Fe3O4 absorber with excellent microwave absorbing properties and which is well used in 3D printing ink Methods X-ray energy spectrometer, infrared spectrometer, transmission electron microscope, vector network analyzer are applied to test and analysis the microstructure, chemical composition, electromagnetic parameters and particle size of silica encapsulated Fe3O4 nanocomposites. Microwave absorbing 3D printing inkjet ink containing this absorber was prepared. The rheological properties and UV curing rate of the inks with different absorber content were tested. Results silica encapsulated Fe3O4 nanoparticles have a good dispersion, the average particle sizes of silica encapsulated Fe3O4 nanoparticles are 20–30 nm, and the coating thickness is below 10 nm. The maximum reflection loss of the 5 mm thickness sample filled with silica encapsulated Fe3O4 as microwave absorber is −51 dB at 8.89 GHz, which is significantly higher than Fe3O4. The rheological curve of the inks with 0.5‰ or 1‰ microwave absorbers content is Newtonian fluid, which is close to the original resin for 3D printer. The relative reaction rates of the inks contain 0.25 and 0.5‰ microwave absorbers are basically same as the original resin for 3D printer. Conclusion Silica encapsulated Fe3O4 absorber with excellent microwave absorbing properties were synthesized in this research. The 3D printing ink containing 0.5‰ microwave absorber has good printing performance.