A Nanosilica/Nylon-12 Composite Powder for Selective Laser Sintering

Nanosilica was used to reinforce the selective laser sintering (SLS) parts of nylon-12. A dissolution—precipitation process was successfully developed to prepare a nanosilica/nylon-12 composite powder (containing 3 wt% nanosilica) for SLS process. The dispersion of nanosilica in the SLS specimens of the composite powder was examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM), and the effects of nanosilica on the thermal and mechanical properties of the SLS parts were investigated. The results show that: nanosilica disperses uniformly on a nano-scale level in the SLS parts of the composite powder; nanosilica has a heterogeneous nucleation effect on nylon-12; the composite powder has much higher thermal stability than neat nylon-12; the tensile strength, tensile modulus, and impact strength of the SLS specimens made from the composite powder are 20.9, 39.4, and 9.54% higher than those of neat nylon-12 SLS specimens, respectively, and the elongation at break decreases by about 3.65%.