Development of Hydrosoluble Substrate with Low Surface Roughness

The aim of this work is to create a water-soluble substrate with low surface roughness. The $2.5 \times 2.5 \mathrm{~cm}$ substrates were made from polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) by fused deposition modelling (FDM). Within the scope of this study, the effects of the technology parameters of fused deposition modeling - such as raster width, layer thickness, Z offset, extrusion temperature, bed temperature, flow rate, and material of the base plate - on the resulting surface roughness of the 3D-printed PVA substrates were investigated. Surface profilometry results were then used to optimize the process and fabricate a water-soluble substrate with minimal surface roughness. Our results indicate that the hidrophilic chemical nature of the base plate is a principal parameter in reducing the surface roughness of the resulting PVA substrate. With optimization the $R_{a}$ was reduced to around $0.1 \mu \mathrm{~m}$ on some areas of the printed substrates.