absorption and porosity

[papanonno92 0]

Dear guys,

i want to use PLA for some applications where I need the absorption of some substances and then their release.

Has someone of you experience with this field? Also an indication on how to obtain porosity, better if microporosity, would be great!

The question is: is 3D printed PLA able to absorb liquid?

[geert_2 556]

All plastics do absorb moisture (water) and oils to some degree. But you can not control that as far as I am aware. Except very crudely by drying a plastic in an oven to remove most moisture.

I think you would be better off printing a sort of sponge to mechanically retain the liquid. But that may be hard to model.

Or even better: print a shell or container, and fill that with a suitable product, such as a sponge, salts, or the polymers used in sanitary pads. The latter are also used for plants, to regulate water absorption: when giving the plant water, these polymers do absorb all excess at once, and then slowly release it during the next days or weeks.