Three-dimensional printing of blue-colored zirconia accessories using digital light processing-based stereolithography

• Published in: Journal of Asian Ceramic Societies Vol. 9; no. 2; pp. 727 - 732
• Main Authors: Li, Yanhui, Wang, Shengliang, Wang, Minglang, Zhang, Xinyue, Lu, Binwen, Wang, Yueliang, Dong, Dongdong, He, Fupo, Liu, Wei, Wu, Shanghua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis 03.04.2021; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: 3Y-TZP; blue-colored; cure depth; digital light processing
• ISSN: 2187-0764; 2187-0764
• DOI: 10.1080/21870764.2021.1913912

Digital light processing (DLP) based stereolithography opens new possibilities for fabricating ceramic accessories with complex structures. The cure depth is a critical criterion for analyzing the production efficiency of ceramic accessories. As predicted using the absorption model, the absorbance from the photoinitiator and dye has a direct effect on the cure depth. In this study, blue-colored powder composed of 3 mol% yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystals (3Y-TZP) and CoAl 2 O 4 powder was prepared through ball-milling. The cure depth of a single layer exposed to varying energy levels was measured, and the values of the depth sensitivity S d and critical energy E c were also calculated. The results showed that the absorbance of blue-colored 3Y-TZP powder increased with CoAl 2 O 4 content, which increased the critical energy E c and depth sensitivity reciprocal 1/S d . Compared with the pure 3Y-TZP, the cure depth decreased, which was attributable to the absorbance of CoAl 2 O 4 . In addition, blue-colored accessories were fabricated using the DLP method, and the microstructures of the accessories were characterized through scanning electron microscopy.