Styrene‐ethylene‐butylene‐styrene grafted maleic anhydride modified polyamide‐12: Printability and impact performance in fused granulate 3D printing

Polyamide‐12 (PA‐12) is a typically used thermoplastic in additive manufacturing; however, its limited impact toughness and sub‐optimal melt rheology restrict its applicability in large‐scale fused granulate fabrication. In this work, styrene‐ethylene‐butylene‐styrene grafted maleic anhydride (SEBS‐ g ‐MA) copolymer was incorporated in PA‐12 via melt blending to enhance its impact performance of additively manufactured parts. The affinity between PA‐12 and the MA phase of the blend was theoretically predicted using Hansen solubility parameter analysis. The rheological investigation and pressure drop analyses were performed to evaluate the extrudability and printability of the developed PA‐12/SEBS‐ g ‐MA blends. The morphological investigations showed the dispersion and coalescence of SEBS‐ g ‐MA phase in the continuous PA‐12 matrix, and it also revealed a good layer formability for the printed samples for all the blends. The SEBS‐ g ‐MA loading level significantly improved the Izod impact strength of the additive manufactured parts and showed up to ~600% increase compared to the pristine PA‐12 sample. This work provides a promising strategy to develop additively manufactured modified polyamide with improved impact performance for several potential applications.