Production of spherical polymeric composite powder for selective laser sintering via plasma assisted solid state shear milling: From theory to piezoelectric application

Abstract With the advent of digital industry, intelligent manufacturing is becoming a pillar industry guiding the rapid development of modern industry and daily life of human kind. Nevertheless, the lack of advanced functional materials severely restricts the technological updates and product upgrades. Herein, we developed a facile method to fabricate polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)/barium titanate (BaTiO3) spherical piezoelectric powder for SLS processing by combining solid state shear milling (S3M) and plasma technology. With assistance of simulation of heat transfers and molecular dynamics, the transformation of irregular powder to spherical one was successfully clarified by melt surface tension. As a proof-of-concept, the as-prepared spherical powder endowed SLS parts with advanced mechanical properties and piezoelectric properties derived from the excellent accumulation characteristics. The improved piezoelectric properties could reach an open-circuit voltage of 4.7 V and a short-circuit current of 106.5 nA, which exhibited better output performance than those of most reported piezoelectric 3D parts. This work not only contributed a high quality piezoelectric material for SLS processing, but also provided a new route for efficient and clean preparation of polymer-based spherical powder for all chemical engineering fields.