Journal of Macromolecular Science, Part A

Pure and Applied Chemistry

ISSN: 1060-1325 (Print) 1520-5738 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/lmsa20

Multifunctional properties of 3D printed poly(lactic

acid)/graphene nanocomposites by fused
deposition modeling

K. Prashantha & F. Roger

To cite this article: K. Prashantha & F. Roger (2017) Multifunctional properties of 3D printed
poly(lactic acid)/graphene nanocomposites by fused deposition modeling, Journal of
Macromolecular Science, Part A, 54:1, 24-29, DOI: 10.1080/10601325.2017.1250311

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10601325.2017.1250311

Published online: 28 Nov 2016.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 11

View related articles

View Crossmark data

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=lmsa20

Download by: [Monash University Library] Date: 07 December 2016, At: 14:01
JOURNAL OF MACROMOLECULAR SCIENCE, PART A: PURE AND APPLIED CHEMISTRY
2017, VOL. 54, NO. 1, 24–29
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10601325.2017.1250311

Multifunctional properties of 3D printed poly(lactic acid)/graphene nanocomposites

by fused deposition modeling
K. Prashantha and F. Roger
Mines Douai, Department of Polymers and Composites Technology and Mechanical Engineering, Douai, France

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

In this work, three-dimensional (3D) printing system based on fused deposition modeling (FDM) is used for the Received, Revised and
fabrication of conductive polymer nanocomposites. This technology consists in the additive multilayer Accepted July 2016
deposition of polymeric nanocomposite based on poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and graphene by means of a in house KEYWORDS
made low-cost commercial bench-top 3D printer. Further, 3D printed PLA/graphene nanocomposites 3D printing; fused deposition
containing 10 wt% graphene in PLA matrix were characterized for their mechanical, electrical and modeling; graphene
electromagnetic induction shielding properties of the nanocomposite. Furthermore X-ray computed micro- poly(lactic acid)
tomography analyses showed that printed samples have good dimensional accuracy and are significantly
closer to the predefined design and the results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) printed samples showed
a uniform dispersion of graphene in PLA matrix The proposed material has uniquely advantageous when
implemented in 3D printed structures, because incorporation of multifunctional graphene has been shown to
substantially improve the properties of the resulting nanocomposite.

1. Introduction method can be effective in increasing the degree of orientation

of short reinforcing fibers in polymer-based composites during
Three-dimensional (3D) printing has gained a great momentum
filament extrusion, resulting in 3D printed components with
in recent times due its process flexibility, rapid response to
unique structural properties that are significantly higher than
design alterations, and its ability to create complex structures
those of traditionally molded samples (6). Also, FDM technol-
(1). 3D printing is also known as desktop fabrication or additive
ogy found to be a potential method for the fabrication of elec-
manufacturing and has various methods of product
tronic sensors based on conductive carbon black filled poly
manufacturing such as stereolithography, selective laser sinter-
(caprolactone) (PCL) composites extruded using table-top FDM
ing, syringe extrusion, fused deposition modeling (FDM)/fused
3D printer (7). Recently, there has been interest in exploiting the
filament fabrication (FFF), for ceramics, metals, polymers and
inherent flexibility of 3D printing to design and fabricate anten-
composites materials (2). Among these techniques, FDM/FFF
nas to space-based cube satellites structures (8, 9). In order to
are among the most widely employed and investigated additive
use the materials in space based applications, electromagnetic
manufacturing methods both in academia and in industry for
and radiation sensitive components must be incorporated
the printing of thermoplastic polymers. Fused deposition
within the 3D printed structure without compromising the
modeling (FDM) or fused filament fabrication (FFF) is a rapid
mechanical strength. In the effort to address this issue, in the
prototyping technology to construct 3D objects from computer
present work, multifunctional graphene has been used as a filler
aided drafting (CAD) software where temperature controlled
in poly(lactic acid) (PLA). In this paper, we focus on the fabrica-
head extrudes the thermoplastic material layer by layer. In this
tion and characterization of 3D printed graphene- PLA nano-
process, the material property changes from a solid to a semi liq-
composites using commercially available filaments. The
uid state during the extrusion process and follow the path of
fabrication of 3D printed graphene–PLA nanocomposite struc-
computer controlled system. Sometimes a support structure is
tures, electrical, dielectric, electromagnetic shielding, mechani-
required which is based on the position of parts in order to com-
cal and dynamic mechanical properties of the 3D printed
plete the product design (3). The common materials used in
nanocomposites have been described.
FDM process are poly lactic acid (PLA), acrylonitrile butadiene
styrene (ABS), polycarbonate (PC), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) etc.
(4). In general, FDM is highly feasible in amorphous polymers 2. Experimentall
than that of semi-crystalline/crystalline material. Amorphous
2.1. Materials
material will soften easily and polymers which are extruded
from a highly viscous material work better than that of low vis- Commercial PLA filament filled with 10 wt% conductive graphene
cous materials (5). Recent literature suggests that, the FDM with a diameter of 1.75 mm was purchased from Blackmagic3D

CONTACT K. Prashantha [email protected] Mines Douai, Department of Polymers and Composites Technology and Mechanical Engineer-
ing, 941 rue Charles Bourseul, CS 10838, F-59508 Douai Cedex, France.
Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online at www.tandfonline.com/lmsa.
© 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
 JOURNAL OF MACROMOLECULAR SCIENCE, PART A: PURE AND APPLIED CHEMISTRY 25

Inc., USA. Before used, this filament has an electrical resistivity of 2.3.3. Dielectric characterization
15 ohm-cm determined using a cubic centimeter of material. The dielectric characteristics of the materials were measured by
using impedance bridge (HP Agilent 4284A LCR meter, Agilent
Technologies, USA). The accuracy of the dielectric measure-
2.2. Fabrication of the PLA and graphene/PLA 3D printed ment was confirmed by measuring the permittivity and tan d of
samples a standard polytetrafluoroethylene sample provided by the
3D printed samples are manufactured using a Makerbot Repli- manufacturers. For each filler concentration, at least five sam-
cator 2 FDM printer with a nozzle diameter of 0.4 mm at ples were tested. All the measurements were performed at 25 C
210 C. Because of fillers, it is recommended to use 0.4 mm to and 50% RH.
avoid extruder blockage and to remove filament from the noz-
zle promptly after printing. Printing bed temperature was kept 2.3.3. Electromagnetic induction shielding efficiency (EMI SE)
at 60 C and the distance between nozzle and bed surface was measurements
fixed at 0.2 mm. As schematically represented in Figure 1, using Electromagnetic induction shielding measurements in terms of
commercially available 10 wt% graphene filled PLA filaments, reflection coefficient (S11) and the transmission coefficient
dumbbell and parallelepiped specimens were built-up along (S21) were measured by using a Vector Network Analyzer
horizontal orientations X is the direction of filament deposition (VNA) type (E8362B Agilent technologies working from
and Z is the direction of the overlapping layers. Specimens are 10 MHz to 20 GHz). The rectangular samples (25131.2 mm)
printed with two surface layer shells, the infill is set to 100% of printed nanocomposite were inserted into a standard coaxial
and the layer height is fixed to 200 microns. Infill pattern is lin- sample holder which matches the internal dimensions of X-
ear with a stacking alternating between ¡45 and 45 . Infill band (8.2–12.4 GHz) waveguide and they have been placed
and outlines filaments are printed at 30 mm/s. between the two ports of the network analyzer.
The rectangular samples of 25131.2 mm and 41030 mm
dimension were printed for EMI and DMA characterization. 2.3.4. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA)
Specimens for resistivity and tensile tests samples were printed The viscoelastic behavior was studied in tension by dynamic
according to ASTM D449 6-87 and ASTM D790-03 standards, mechanical analysis (DMAC150, MetraviB, France). Dynamic
respectively. strain sweep was first performed to determine the linear visco-
elastic range of the materials. The tests were then performed at
a strain amplitude of 2% and a frequency of 1 Hz. Data were
2.3. Characterization methods collected from ¡50 to 125 C at a scanning rate of 3 C.min¡1.
Rectangular DMA specimens (nominal dimensions, 4 § 0.210
2.3.1. Morphology
§ .530 mm3) were cut from 3D printed samples.
A Rectangular Parallele piped printed sample with a section of
28mm has been analyzed by X-ray micro-computed tomogra-
phy (tungsten filament and Varian detector). Voxel size is 2.3.5. Mechanical behavior testing
6.9 micrometers cube and 3D reconstruction was done using The mechanical properties were evaluated from 3D printed
public domain ImageJ software. Also, scanning electron micro- specimens. Tensile strength and elongation at break were mea-
scope (SEM) (S-4300SE/N, Hitachi, Japan) was used to study sured at a crosshead rate of 5 mm.min¡1 and modulus at
the microstructure and nanofiller dispersion of PLA/GNP 1 mm.min¡1, using a tensile machine (Lloyd LR 50 K, USA) at
nanocomposites. The voltage of acceleration was 5kV. Before 25 C and 50% RH according to ISO 527 standard. All the
SEM recording, the samples were fractured by immersing into reported values were calculated as averages over five samples
liquid nitrogen and subsequently coated with thin layer gold. for tensile and flexural test and ten specimens for impact test.

2.3.2. Resistivity measurements 3. Results and discussion

Volume resistivity measurements were carried out on three 3.1. X-ray computed tomography
specimens of 1 £ 1 cm samples using a two-probe measure-
ment (Solartron 7075 Digital Voltmeter) in accordance with X-Ray micro-computed tomography is a helpful analysis
the ASTM D449 6-87 standard. method to investigate 3D printed parts microstructure and
highlight the porosity distribution and filaments adhesion. We
can see in Figure 2A that, the cross section (plane yz) that some
porosities are induced by filaments deposition. At the left and
right outer edges of the sample two horizontal filament layers
along x axis can be clearly identified. At the top surface, the last
infill layer has a 45 orientation in the (xy) plane. It is also evi-
dent from Figure 2 that, the deposited filaments completely
merge together in kind of single coalesced layers, due to the
shorter time of deposition of contiguous filaments in the (xy)
plane. Taking into account the number of filaments, about
0.21-0.42 secs is the average time between the contact deposi-
Figure 1. Schematic of 3D-printed dumbbell and parallelepiped specimens. tion in dumbbell specimens. This processing time is slightly
26 K. PRASHANTHA AND F. ROGER

Figure 2. X-ray microcomputed tomography (A) and SEM image (B) of PLA/Graphene nanocomposite sample.

higher in parallelepiped specimens (about 0.3-0.6 secs) because aligned along deposited direction of the filaments leading
its width is higher. The shorter time, the better the interaction higher conductivity.
and inter-joining between contiguous filaments, because the fil-
ament temperature is higher and closer to the proceding draw-
3.3. Dielectric properties
ing, determining a higher quality of filament bonding between
the layers. The dependence of the dielectric properties of the neat PLA and
The homogeneous dispersion of graphene in the PLA matrix nanocomposite as a function of frequency was investigated.
is one of the most important criteria to achieve optimal proper- Figures 3(a) and (b) display the dielectric permittivivity (i.e.
ties of nanocomposites. In the case of GNPs, additional inter dielectric constant) ɛ’, and the dielectric loss tangent, tan d, of
planar p–p interactions make it even more challenging to dis- the 3D printed neat PLA and PLA/graphene nanocomposite. It
perse them in the polymer matrices. Moreover, their hydropho- is evident from the figure that, the ɛ’ and tan d values increase
bic nature is not favorable to their dispersion within the substantially after adding graphene as the filler and the nano-
hydrophilic PLA matrix. Nevertheless, Figure 2B shows that composites showed the slightly higher frequency dependence
GNPs are well dispersed in the PLA matrix after even after, up of dielectric constant than that of PLA. The higher real permit-
to a GNPs concentration of 10 wt%. GNP’s high aspect ratio tivity in nanocomposites is attributed to the polar characteris-
and its relatively high population density facilitated it to form tics of fillers and thus increases the number of charge carriers
an interconnected filler network throughout the PLA matrix in the PLA matrix. The increase in dielectric constant can be
during the 3D fabrication. attributed to the homogenous dispersion and compatibility of
filler in the PLA matrix.
The dielectric loss factor (tan d) of neat PLA and the PLA/
3.2. Electrical resistivity
graphene nanocomposites under applied sweep frequencies is
The influence of FDM processing on volume resistivity of PLA/ shown in Figure 3(b). For the PLA matrix and PLA containing
graphene nanocomposites was studied. Before the processing, graphene, the loss factors of the samples exhibited initial
this filament had an electrical resistivity of 15 ohm-cm deter- increase at lower frequency followed by a decrease above
mined using a cubic centimeter of material. Surprisingly, vol- 110 Hz. The initial increase in loss factor at low frequency can
ume resistivity of 3D printed parts perpendicular to layers was be attributed to dipole polarization (10). As the frequency
found to be 25 ohm-cm and the measured volume resistivity of increased further, the dipole polarization effects reduced, and
3D printed parts through layers (along Z axis) is about the value of the loss factor declined accordingly. More signifi-
102 ohm-cm. This change in resistivity is certainly related to cantly, the values of the loss factors of all samples are small
the direction of the graphene nanoplatelets are preferentially compared with other related reports (11) and in the range of
 JOURNAL OF MACROMOLECULAR SCIENCE, PART A: PURE AND APPLIED CHEMISTRY 27

Figure 4. EMI SE for neat PLA and PLA/graphene composites in the X-band range,
8–12 GHz.

Figure 4. It is observed that the SE of both neat matrix and

nanocomposite is almost constant in the entire frequency range
and that EMI SE increases with the addition of graphene in
PLA. The SE of neat PLA matrix is found to be very low, as low
as 2dB, whereas nanocomposite is found to be 16 dB over a fre-
quency range of 8–12 GHz. The increase inEMI SE can be
attributed to the increase in conductivity of the nanocomposite
since graphene at higher loading (10 wt%) expected to have
formed a conducting network in PLA matrix thereby increasing
the interconnections resulting in more interaction between the
graphene and incoming radiation leading to improvlng the
shielding effectively.
Figure 3. Frequency dependence of (a) dielectric constant (ɛ’) and (b) dielectric The observed results for these 3D printed samples are com-
loss (tan d) of neat PLA and nanocomposite samples. parable to injection molded samples for example Yang et al.
(15) reported an EMI SE of 19 dB at 15 wt% loading of carbon
values reported for injection molded polypropylene/carbon nanofiber (CNFs) in CNF–polystyrene (PS) foam composites
nanotube nanocomposites. For the development of electronic for EMI shielding applications. The CNF–PS composites were
devices, many efforts were made to explore new dielectrics. more reflective to electromagnetic radiation than absorptive.
Although some research findings about dielectrics with a high The primary EMI shielding mechanism in the present nano-
dielectric constant have been reported, a lot of complicated and composite system is found to be reflection and which is con-
high-cost procedures were involved in preparing them, and firmed by the observation of reflectivity in the 3D printed
these high dielectric constants were generally counteracted by nanocomposite. In the present study, the reflectivity (R), trans-
the high dielectric loss (11,12). But, in the present system, missivity (T), and absorptivity (A) are 0.80, 0.01, and 0.19,
material with higher dielectric constant values at low dielectric respectively for the PLA nanocomposite containing 10 wt%
loss was obtained by a simple 3D printed sample. It also should graphene and the result is consistent with the EMI shielding
be noted that the e0 values of the prepared nanocomposite sys- mechanism reported in the literature (16). At higher graphene
tems almost have weak or nil frequency dependence in the loading, the reflectivity of the incident electromagnetic Radia-
entire frequency range, which is in great interest from the view- tion increases. This reflection can be due to high electrical con-
point of the electrical and electronic application (13,14). ductivity, and may be due to change in the permittivity and
dielectric losses of the nano composites. On the basis of these
observations, it can be confirmed that, 3D printed composites
3.3. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding
in the present study showed more reflective and less absorptive
efficiency (SE) of the 3D printed nanocomposite
to electromagnetic radiation in X-band frequencies, that is, the
The EMI SE is defined as the logarithmic ratio of incoming (Pi) primary EMI shielding mechanism of such 3D printed nano-
to outgoing power (Po) of radiation. In general, efficiency of composites is reflection rather than absorption in the X-band
any shielding material is expressed in decibels (dB). Higher the frequency region. The EMI SE required for most of the com-
decibel level of EMI SE, less energy is transmitted through mercial applications are above 15 dB. Hence, the current
shielding material. The EMI SE of 3D printed neat PLA and 10 wt% graphene reinforced PLA 3D printed composites can
graphene/PLA nanocomposite in X-band region is shown in be used as lightweight EMI shielding materials.
28 K. PRASHANTHA AND F. ROGER

3.4. Dynamic mechanical analysis Table 1. Tensile properties of FDM processed PLA and nanocomposite.

Dynamic mechanical thermograms of PLA and its nanocompo- Samples Modulus (MPa) Strength (MPa) Strain (mm/mm)
site after 3D-printing are shown in Figures 5. The storage mod- PLA 1827 31.6 0.026
ulus (E') (Figure 5a) and glass transition temperature from loss PLA/10 wt% Graphene 2454 40.2 0.023
tangent (tan d) (Figure 5b) as a function of temperature are
measured. It was observed that, addition of graphene to PLA
matrix, substantially increases the storage modulus of the FDM
3.5. Tensile properties
parts by about 20-30% with respect to the neat PLA below the
Tg. Increase in the storage modulus values after Tg is due to The mechanical properties such as elastic modulus (E), tensile
the cold crystallization of PLA, the effect of graphene nanofiller strength (s b) and strain at break (eb) of 3D-printed neat PLA
is manifestly more evident even above Tg. In fact, the storage and PLA nanocomposite are summarized in Table 1 and
modulus of the nanocomposite materials at 100 C is more than Figure 6. In general, it can be noted how the presence of gra-
that that of neat PLA samples, thus reveals that, added graphe- phene nanoplatelets promotes a remarkable increase of the
nes nucleates the cold crystallization in PLA matrix, thereby elastic modulus (by 30%) and ultimate tensile strength (by
enhancing the positive stiffening effect of graphene nanoplate- 27%) of the PLA matrix, but slightly decreases its strain at
lets in the molten state. In Figure 5b, the tan d peak observed at break values. The reduction of ultimate properties could be
about 66 C and 70 C is related to the glass transition tempera- attributed to a presence of some voids between the deposition
ture (Tg) of the neat PLA and PLA/graphene nanocomposites, filaments as documented by the X-Ray computed tomography
respectively. This increase of Tg values by about 4 C in nano- observations of Figure 2.
composite is due to the restriction of motion of macromole- As it clearly emerges from Figure 6 that 3D-printed samples
cules due to the orientation of polymer chains during extrusion along horizontal direction are characterized by low or no com-
in FDM printed parts. paction pressure leading to a 3D-printed specimens. PLA
presents a 1.8 GPa Young modulus and tensile strength of
31.6 MPa. When compared with PLA, nanocomposites reveal a
considerable increase on modulus (by 34%) and the strength
increases by 29%, but at the expense of ductility.
The observed tensile strength and modulus values of neat
PLA and that of nanocomposites is lower than the values
reported for injection molded bulk samples (17, 18). This is
attributed to the architecture of the printed samples and is also
due to the presence of voids in the microstructure which leads
to a lower effective cross section in the sample. Therefore, it still
remains a challenge to improve the quality and dimensional
stability of the FDM samples. Upon addition of 10 wt% of gra-
phene, the elastic modulus improves by about 30% compared
to unfilled PLA. In fact, the present samples are horizontally
built samples which are said to exhibit the highest elastic mod-
ulus and ultimate strength, compared to vertical and perpen-
dicular parts. This is due to the fact that the direction of the

Figure 5. Dynamic mechanical properties (a) storage modulus (E’) and (b) loss tan- Figure 6. Typical stress-strain curve for FDM processed PLA and PLA/graphene
gent (tan d), of neat PLA and nanocomposite samples as a function of temperature. nanocomposites.
 JOURNAL OF MACROMOLECULAR SCIENCE, PART A: PURE AND APPLIED CHEMISTRY 29

deposited filaments preferentially aligned along the tensile References

applied load leading to better mechanical properties. Further
1. Espalin, D., Muse, D., MacDonald, E., Wicker, R. (2014) Int. J. Adv.
in-depth studies are required to analyze the effects of build ori- Manuf. Technol., 72: 963–978.
entation on the elastic modulus and tensile strength of 3D 2. Rocha, C., Torrado-Perez, A., Roberson, D.A., Shemelya, C., MacDon-
printed parts. ald, E., Wicker, R. (2014) J. Mater. Res., 29: 1859–1866.
3. Zein, I., Hutmacher, D.W, Tan, K.C., Teoh, S.H. (2002) Biomaterials,
23: 1169–1185.
4. Conclusions 4. Murr, L.E., Gaytan, S.M., Medina, F., Lopez, H., Martinez, E. (2010)
Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A., 368: 1999–2032.
Graphene nanoplatelets filled PLA filament was successfully 5. Gibson, I., Rosen, D.W., Stucker, B. (2015) Additive Manufacturing
used for fused deposition modelling. X-Ray Computed Technologies. Springer Science, 19–45.
micro-Tomography was utilized to analyze the porosity dis- 6. Tekinalp, H.L., Kunc, V., Velez-Garcia, G.M., Duty, C.E., Love, L.J.,
Naskar, A.K., Craig, A. B., Soydan, O. (2014) Compos. Sci. Technol.,
tribution and filaments adhesion in the 3D printed part. An 105: 144–150.
electrical resistivity value in the direction of perpendicular 7. Leigh, S.J., Bradley, R.J., Purssell, C.P., Billson, D.R., Hutchins, D.A.
to layers was found to be less than the volume resistivity of (2012) PLoS ONE, 7: e49365.
3D printed parts through layers. SEM of the nanocomposite 8. Shemelya, C., Cedillos, F., Aguilera, E., Espalin, D., Muse, D., Wicker,
clearly showed the good dispersion of GNPS in PLA matrix. R., MacDonald, E. (2015) IEEE Sens. J., 15: 1280–1286.
9. Shemelya, C.M., Rivera, A., Perez, A.T., Rocha, C., Liang, M., Yu, X.,
Dielectical constant of the prepared nanocomposite systems
Kief, C., Alexander, D., Stegeman, J., Xin, H., Wicker, R.B., Macdon-
almost have weak or nil frequency dependence in the entire ald, E., Roberson, D.A., (2015) J. Elect. Mater., 44(8): 2598–2607.
frequency range, which is of great interest from the view- 10. Huang, X.Y., Jiang, P.K., Kim, C., Liu, F., Yin, Y. (2009) Eur. Polym. J.,
point of the electrical and electronic applications. The EMI 45: 377–386.
shielding mechanism of the 3D printed PLA/graphene 11. Cerezo, F.T., Preston, C.M.L., Shanks, R.A. (2007) Comp. Sci. Tech.,
67: 79–91.
nanocomposites is found to be a reflection rather than
12. Prashantha, K., Soulestin, J., Lacrampe, M.-F., Krawczak, P., Dupin,
absorption in the X-band frequency region and the EMI SE G., Claes, M., Tewari, A. (2010) Polym. & Polym. Compo., 18(9):
of PLA/graphene is found to be 16dB which can be used as 489–494.
lightweight EMI shielding materials. The addition of gra- 13. P€
otschke, P., Dudkin, S.M. and Alig, I. (2003) Polymer, 44: 5023–
phene nano platelets improves the mechanical and thermo- 5030.
14. Wang, L. and Dang, Z.M. (2005) Appl. Phys. Lett., 87: 042903/1–
mechanical properties of neat PLA. This work summarized
042903/3.
how the FDM processing can be effectively utilized to pre- 15. Yang, Y., Gupta, M. C., Dudley, K. L., Lawrence, R. W. (2005) Adv.
pare the multifunctional biodegradable PLA matrix filled Mater., 17: 1999–2003.
with conducting graphene nanoplatelets. These initial stud- 16. Varrla, E., Venkataraman, S., Sundara, R. (2011) Macromol. Mater.
ies indicate that PLA/graphene nanocomposite is an incred- Eng., 296: 894–898.
17. Prashantha, K., Lecouvet, B., Sclavons, M., Lacrampe, M.-F., Krawc-
ibly promising new 3D printable biomaterial worthy of
zak, P. (2013) J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 128(3): 1895–1903.
additional functional studies, including those relating to tis- 18. Pinto, V.C., Tiago, R., Sofia, A., Xavier, J., Paulo, T., Moreira, P.M.G.
sue engineering, as well as bioelectronics and biosensors. P., Guedes, R.M. (2015) Procedia Eng., 114: 635–642.