Improving adhesion of three-dimensional printed objects on textile fabrics by polymer coating

Three-dimensional printing belongs to the emerging technologies of our time. Still being relatively time-consuming and suffering from low mechanical properties, three-dimensional printing can be combined with other production technologies to overcome these problems. Three-dimensional printing on textile fabrics, for example, allows for creating large areas with sufficient lateral mechanical properties in a reasonable time on which three-dimensional printed parts give additional functionalities or laterally selective mechanical rigidity and so on. To create three-dimensional printed personalized knee joint support bandages, however, the adhesion between textile fabric and polymeric parts needs to be further increased. Here, we report on the influence of a polymer coating on different textile fabrics on the adhesion of three-dimensional printed elements from hard and soft poly(lactic acid). Surprisingly, the coating increases the adhesion significantly for the hard poly(lactic acid), while the soft poly(lactic acid) sticks better on some materials without additional coating. Maximum separation forces are measured for linen which can be attributed to the relatively long linen fibers with uneven surface, increasing the fiber–fiber friction inside the fabric and the adhesion to the polymer.