Effect of acetone treatment and copper oxide coating on the mechanical and wear properties of 3D-printed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene structures

3D-printed ABS samples are treated with acetone and coated with copper oxide (CuO) for varying durations to understand how these treatment processes affect their mechanical and tribological properties. Tensile strength, flexural strength, coefficient of friction, and wear of ABS were analyzed under various pre-treatment and coating conditions and it is proved that acetone treatment and CuO coating can be effectively used to tune such properties to meet desired specifications. For 3D-printed ABS structures, CuO coating significantly enhances their tensile strength without acetone treatment. Although acetone treatment reduces their tensile strength as demonstrated, CuO coating can increase it again which means their tensile strength can be tuned by using the two processes. Furthermore, both acetone treatment and CuO coating improve their flexural strength. Additionally, acetone treatment and CuO coating both decrease their coefficient of friction. FESEM and EDS analyses were conducted on the structures to analyze and verify their wear properties.