Abstract
Complex multidimensional vascular polymers are fabricated by using sacrificial material templates. The sacrificial material consists of the commodity biopolymer poly(lactic) acid (PLA) treated with a tin catalyst to accelerate thermal depolymerization. We show that these materials can be formed into sacrificial templates across multiple dimensions and spanning several orders of magnitude in size scale. Templates are then embedded in a thermosetting polymer and removed using a thermal treatment process leaving behind an inverse replica of the template material. The effectiveness of VaSC is verified both ex situ and in situ, and the resulting structures are validated via flow rate testing.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| State | Published - 2015 |
| Event | 20th International Conference on Composite Materials, ICCM 2015 - Copenhagen, Denmark Duration: Jul 19 2015 → Jul 24 2015 |
Other
| Other | 20th International Conference on Composite Materials, ICCM 2015 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Denmark |
| City | Copenhagen |
| Period | 7/19/15 → 7/24/15 |
Keywords
- Bioinspired
- Fiber-reinforced composite
- Microvascular
- Multifunctional
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Engineering
- Ceramics and Composites