2019 Articles

Graphite Based Semi-Conductive 3D Printing Filament

Mann, Matthew

In this experiment, we create and evaluate graphite-based 3D printing composite filament in hopesof determining its effectiveness as a conductive or semiconductive 3D printing material. With 3D printable materials becoming more relevant in materialsconstruction, the development of a 3D printable transistor would be an invaluable invention. Our results are from experiments we ran in our 3D printing lab with custom-made filaments using graphite powder in addition to the standard (non-conductive) PLA. These results show that is indeed possible to create graphite infused filament with conductive properties. Carbon is also a potential substitute for a semiconductor when in its single-layered graphene form. However, the attributes of the filament might not make a suitable replacement for conductive filament. These results show that graphite might have a place in a 3D printable transistors for the future.