| The development of step-growth polymers, which utilize furan-maleimide Diels-Alder (fmDA) chemistry, are synthesized and characterized. The fmDA is a dynamic covalent chemistry which exhibits thermal-reversibility at elevated temperatures (100--120 °C). These materials also have been shown to exhibit self-healing properties. This study exploits the fmDA to design a mechanism that will address directional anisotropy within fused filament fabrication (FFF) additive manufacturing parts. Two approaches are implemented to develop a solution. The foundation of the first approach is to synthesize a novel fmDA, step-growth polymer that exhibits mechanical robustness and is capable of being processed via FFF. The second approach is to develop a healing agent which can be blended with commercially available polylactic acid (PLA) to reduce the anisotropic effects of a FFF, additive manufacturing. |
