Additive manufacturing of semiconductive polymer nanocomposites loaded with tungsten disulfide nanosheets

Abstract

In this work, we report the development of novel tungsten disulfide nanocomposites with optical and electrical properties suitable for stereolithography (SL). The dispersion of WS2 nanosheets (WS2-2D) after exfoliation via liquid-phase in DMF could be directly incorporated into commercial photopolymer resins, which allowed the successful printing of WS2-2D nanocomposites with different degrees of complexity. The manufactured nanocomposites, with measured WS2-2D concentrations in the range of 0.001 to 0.005 wt.%, imparted a green coloration and red fluorescence to the printed parts while maintaining their transparency due to the nanometric size and good exfoliation of the filler. Interestingly, the electrical resistivity of the nanocomposites decreased by eight orders of magnitude compared to the pristine resin, reaching values in the semiconductive range. These findings highlight the potential of WS2-2D nanocomposites for the additive manufacturing of functional components with applications in areas such as plasmonic, photonics, and electronics.