3D printed medical surgical cotton fabric- poly lactic acid biocomposite: A feasibility study

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D printing is an advanced Additive Manufacturing (AM) method for developing thermoplastic-based parts. Researchers studied FDM-based 3D printing of PLA with whole biomass and biomass resources such as lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose. These composites are environmentally friendly, sustainable and have wide applications in healthcare. There is scope for developing the 3D printing of biocomposite with medical surgical cotton fabric, where PLA is unique for such manufacturing. The development and characterisation of FDM 3D printed medical surgical cotton fabric- PLA biocomposite is the primary objective of this work. Experimental methods used for the development of biocomposites involve the use of three types of cotton fabric of pore sizes 0.6 mm x 0.6 mm, 0.8 mm x 0.8 mm, and 1.0 mm x 1.0 mm with three different 3D printing pore sizes 0.5 mm x 0.5 mm, 1.0 mm x 1.0 and 1.5 mm x 1.5 mm. The development of biocomposites is found feasible. Breaking strength, percentage extension, and water absorption capacity increased in 3D printing pore sizes and pore wall width for each fabric. The maximum 235.40 N and minimum 123.20 N breaking strength, maximum 2.288 % and minimum 1.506 % extension, and maximum 7.63 % and minimum 3.57 % absorption capacity have been observed for the developed biocomposite. The behaviours of these biocomposites are adequate for healthcare applications and may be used as a bandage in wound healing. The present work is limited to the feasibility study of the unique biocomposite. Analysis of other properties and testing of biocomposite on animals and humans may be carried out in future work.