Preparation of alumina/polystyrene core-shell composite powder via phase inversion process for indirect selective laser sintering applications

Indirect selective laser sintering (SLS) is one of the promising additive manufacturing (AM) methods that can process conventionally difficult or even impossible materials such as ceramics. In this work, an innovative phase inversion technique is used to fabricate spherical alumina particles coated with a thin layer of polystyrene (PS). Then, indirect SLS is used to fabricate green parts from the 6 wt% PS coated alumina particles via a Nd:YAG laser. The assessed SLS process parameters were the scan speed, laser power, scan spacing, pulse frequency, and pulse width. The characterization of the AL2O3/PS core-shell composite particles was described using techniques including SEM (for morphology), FT-IR (for chemical bonding at the interfaces), TGA (for mass loss), and DSC (for glass transition temperature, Tg). 3D green parts were then fabricated using proper process parameters as a proof of the feasibility of using SLS technique for AL2O3/PS core-shell composite powder. The results showed that using a Nd:YAG laser with less absorption by alumina and PS provides greater penetration through a powder bed. In addition, the possibility of sound connections among particles in every direction was observed due to the uniformity of the coating process in spite of a minimal amount of binder. In addition, green part density measurements show high values compared to previously reported results.