Extended Data Fig. 8: Recyclability of printed LCP material.
From: Three-dimensional printing of hierarchical liquid-crystal-polymer structures
a, Melt flow index (MFI) of pristine pellets as well as recycled printed parts and recycled annealed printed parts (five measurements per material). The melt flow index quantifies the fluidity of the material at the indicated temperature and load. Higher indices indicate low viscosity. Non-annealed printed samples are readily recyclable owing to their high melt flow index. Although the higher molecular weight of annealed samples markedly reduces their fluidity at regular printing temperatures, this material is potentially recyclable if hydrolysis reactions are used to decrease its molecular weight and thus recover processability. Error bars indicate the standard deviation for 5 measurements at each data point; see Source Data for details. b, c, Examples of pellets (b) and recycled printed samples (c) as feedstock material.
