Effect of Photo Initiator Content and Light Exposure Time on the Fabrication of Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Ceramic by DLP-3D Printing Method

In this study, a process is developed for 3D printing with alumina (Al2O3). First, a photocurable slurry made from nanoparticle Al2O3 powder is mixed with hexanediol diacrylate binder and phenylbis(2,4,6- trimethylbenzoyl) phosphine oxide photoinitiator. The optimum solid content of Al2O3 is determined by measuring the rheological properties of the slurry. Then, green bodies of Al2O3 with different photoinitiator contents and UV exposure times are fabricated with a digital light processing (DLP) 3D printer. The dimensional accuracy of the printed Al2O3 green bodies and the number of defects are evaluated by carefully measuring the samples and imaging them with a scanning electron microscope. The optimum photoinitiator content and exposure time are 0.5 wt% and 0.8 s, respectively. These results show that Al2O3 products of various sizes and shapes can be fabricated by DLP 3D printing.