Bio-derived PA11/bamboo charcoal/glass fibre composites for fused filament fabrication, warpage control, strength and flame retardancy

Rahmani, K ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0815-1562, Branfoot, C and Bodaghi, M ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0707-944X, 2025. Bio-derived PA11/bamboo charcoal/glass fibre composites for fused filament fabrication, warpage control, strength and flame retardancy. Virtual and Physical Prototyping, 20 (1): e2589848. ISSN 1745-2759

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Abstract

Adoption of polyamide-11 (PA11) in fused-filament fabrication (FFF) has been limited by warpage, trade-offs between stiffness/strength and toughness at service temperatures, and reliance on non-sustainable flame-retardant packages. To address these challenges, a bio-derived library of PA11 composites was formulated and FFF-printed by compounding bamboo charcoal (BC, 0–5 wt.%) with or without glass fibre (GF, 30 wt.%). Filaments were extruded and specimens were characterised for warpage, wettability, thermo-mechanical response, flammability, and mechanical performance (tensile/flexural/impact/hardness) from 23-90°C. Warpage was suppressed from 3.81 mm in PA11 to ∼0.1 mm with 3 wt.% BC + 30 wt.% GF (∼97% reduction), indicating effective shrinkage control during printing. Mechanical performance was elevated: ultimate tensile strength reached 76.5 MPa in the hybrid, with increased hydrophobicity and improved high-temperature stiffness retention. Horizontal burning rate was lowered by up to 61.9% versus PA11, evidencing char-forming and barrier effects of BC with GF. Architected honeycomb meta-bio-composites were also printed, exhibiting quasi-zero-stiffness force regulation and high specific energy absorption (655 J/kg at 50% compression), highlighting utility for energy dissipators and overload protection. Sustainable, FFF-printable PA11/BC/GF formulations are therefore evidenced to deliver lightweight, durable candidates for automotive, robotic, and protective-sport applications while clarifying processing – structure – property relationships for functional PA11.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Virtual and Physical Prototyping
Creators:	Rahmani, K., Branfoot, C. and Bodaghi, M.
Publisher:	Informa UK Limited
Date:	2025
Volume:	20
Number:	1
ISSN:	1745-2759
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1080/17452759.2025.2589848 DOI 2537291 Other
Rights:	© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Laura Borcherds
Date Added:	26 Nov 2025 11:24
Last Modified:	26 Nov 2025 11:24
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/54810

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