Thermal behavior of PEI/PETG blends for the application in fused deposition modelling (FDM)

This manuscript represents an experimental investigation about the thermal properties of polymeric Polyetherimide (PEI) / Polyethyleneterephthalate-glycol (PEG) blends, with the aim to improve the processability of pristine PEI without an excessive decrease of its properties, thus obtaining a suitable material to feed machines for rapid prototyping, in particular for the fusion deposition modelling (FDM) production technique. Mixtures with 5 and 10% of PETG were obtained applying the melt blending technique using a batch mixer. The materials obtained from the latter were subjected to a thermomechanical process in order to obtain pellets, used as feed for an injection-moulding machine, thus suitable to be employed for the various characterizations. The blends were characterized through thermal (TGA and DSC) and morphological (SEM) analysis.