Polymer-Derived SiOC Ceramics by Digital Light Processing-Based Additive Manufacturing

Polymer-derived SiOC ceramics (PDCs-SiOC) possess advantages such as high temperature resistance, oxidation resistance, corrosion resistance, and customizable mechanical and dielectric properties. These attributes make them a promising material for high-temperature structural and functional applications. Based on polymer-derived ceramic conversion technology, this study synthesized a photosensitive resin with high ceramic yield and low shrinkage from commercial MK resin, 3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate, and trimethylolpropane triacrylate monomer. Using digital light processing additive manufacturing technology, 3D diamond-structured SiOC ceramic and 3D octahedron-structured SiOC ceramic with high precision were fabricated. The pyrolysis of both structures at different temperatures (1000 °C to 1400 °C) yielded SiOC ceramics, which exhibited uniform shrinkage in all directions, with a linear shrinkage rate ranging from 31% to 36%. The microstructure was characterized by FTIR, XRD, and SEM, respectively. Additionally, the compressive strength and elastic modulus of the three-dimensional SiOC ceramics were studied. The SiOC ceramic diamond lattice structure, fabricated through pyrolysis at 1200 °C, demonstrated good mechanical properties with a geometric density of 0.76 g/cm³. Its compressive strength and elastic modulus were measured at 7.66 MPa and 1.47 GPa, respectively. This study offers valuable insights into the rapid and customized manufacturing of lightweight ceramic structures.