posted on 2018-09-17, 00:00authored byUmme Kalsoom, Chowdhury Kamrul Hasan, Laura Tedone, Christopher Desire, Feng Li, Michael C. Breadmore, Pavel N. Nesterenko, Brett Paull
Multimaterial
3D printing facilitates the rapid production of complex
devices with integrated materials of varying properties and functionality.
Herein, multimaterial fused deposition modeling (MM-FDM) 3D printing
was applied to the fabrication of low-cost passive sampler devices
with integrated porous membranes. Using MM-FDM 3D printing, the device
body was produced using black polylactic acid, with Poro-Lay Lay-Felt
filament used for the printing of the integrated porous membranes
(rubber-elastomeric polymer, porous after removal of a water-soluble
poly(vinyl alcohol) component). The resulting device consisted of
two interlocking circular frames, each containing the integrated membrane,
which could be efficiently sealed together without the need for additional
O-rings, and prevented loss of enclosed microparticulate sorbent.
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis of the purified composite
filament confirmed the porous properties of the material, an average
pore size of ∼30 nm. The printed passive samplers with various
membrane thicknesses, including 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 mm, were evaluated
for their ability to facilitate the extraction of atrazine as the
model solute onto the internal sorbent, under standard conditions.
Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry was used to determine
the uptake of atrazine by the device from standard water samples and
also to evaluate any chemical leaching from the printed materials.
The sampler with 0.5 mm thick membrane showed the best performance
with 87% depletion and a sampling rate of 0.19 Ld–1 (n = 3, % RSD = 0.59). The results obtained using
these printed sampling devices with integrated membranes were in close
agreement to devices fitted with a standard poly(ether sulfone) membrane.