Stereolithography of Natural Rubber Latex, a Highly Elastic Material

Typically, natural rubber (NR) offers a wide range of applications because of its exceptional mechanical properties, particularly elasticity. However, due to its unique mechanism of vulcanization, 3D fabrication techniques with NR is still to be explored. Vulcanization is necessary to form crosslinks between the NR chains and greatly improve its elasticity and tensile strength. In this study, the pre-vulcanized NR latex was prepared for the stereolithography (SLA) process to additively manufacture highly elastic parts. Process parameters were studied to investigate the feasibility of the fabrication. The parameters include laser power, scan speed, and layer thickness. This work demonstrates a promising 3D fabrication technique using the NR latex that achieves mechanical properties and crosslink density comparable to those from the conventional processes.