In an emailed press release, specialty chemicals manufacturer Evonik (Essen, Germany) announced that it is continuing its material campaign in 3D printing with two new photopolymers for industrial 3D printing: INFINAM RG 3101 L and INFINAM FL 6300 L. These two products expand the company’s line of synthetic resins, launched in 2021, that are suitable for use in common photopolymer 3D printing processes such as stereolithography (SLA) and digital light processing (DLP).
Evonik will present these new products at the Formnext trade show from November 16–19 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
“We are relentlessly putting our global innovation strength into the development of new photopolymers that enable infinite applications,” says Dr. Rainer Hahn, head of the market segment photopolymers in the additive manufacturing innovation growth field at Evonik. “In this way, we are resolutely driving large-scale industrial 3D printing forward. The Formnext trade show is one of the most important international industry venues for 3D printing. We are therefore very pleased to present our latest ready-to-use high-performance materials here for the first time.”
INFINAM RG 3101 L is a specialty resin for use in SLA and DLP 3D printing technologies. Manufactured in Evonik's innovation hub in Singapore, this ready-to-use material combines impact and high-temperature resistance while exhibiting long-lasting thermomechanical performance. 3D components printed from INFINAM RG 3101 L, such as drones, buckles, or automotive parts, can be machine processed and remain fracture-resistant even when subjected to strong forces.
AS for INFINAM FL 6300 L, Evonik and the Viennese 3D printing company Cubicure are commercializing an innovation project jointly launched in 2019. With the hot lithography printing process developed by Cubicure, highly viscous light-curing polyester-based resins can be processed for the first time. In contrast to conventional stereolithography, hot lithography creates objects at an elevated processing temperature using light-induced polymerization, which allows a significantly wider range of processable components.
The result of this collaboration is the first industrially suitable elastomer from the photopolymer class. INFINAM FL 6300 L enables the additive manufacturing of highly flexible 3D objects that excel in material properties essential for elastomers. In addition to outstanding low-temperature elasticity, its strengths include dynamic load cycles of up to one million load cycles.
“INFINAM FL 6300 L enables completely new manufacturing possibilities in the field of elastic components,” says Dr. Robert Gmeiner, CEO of Cubicure. “Thanks to the high precision with which the elastomer is processed in our hot lithography systems, it is possible for the first time to produce the most complex structures from a rubber-like material. The sports industry is showing great interest in using the material for cushioning elements in shoes, grips or backpacks.”
Evonik bundles its expertise in 3D printing in the additive manufacturing innovation growth field. The strategic focus is on the development and production of new high-performance materials for all major polymer-based 3D printing technologies, including its ready-to-use materials under the new INFINAM brand.