Comprehensive study of mechanical, structural, magnetic, and biological properties of magnetic PLA composites for 3D and 4D printing applications

Kardos, Kinga and Paari-Molnar, Emese and Told, Roland and Wa'el Nafith, Abdel-Fattah Qa'dan and Peter, Szabo and Steinerbrunner-Nagy, Alexandra and Schlégl, Ádám Tibor and Pongracz, Judit and Maroti, Peter (2026) Comprehensive study of mechanical, structural, magnetic, and biological properties of magnetic PLA composites for 3D and 4D printing applications. JOURNAL OF MATERIALS RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY, 44. pp. 3386-3397. ISSN 2238-7854

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Abstract

Metal composites containing magnetic metals are popular materials for 3D printing using Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) technology. The present study investigates the mechanical, structural, thermal, biological, and magnetic properties of three commercially available magnetic polylactic acid (PLA) composites and pure PLA 3D printed with FFF technology. In this research, a comprehensive array of mechanical testing methodologies was performed including tensile, flexural, Charpy impact and Shore D hardness tests. In addition, scanning electron microscopy imaging, electric resistance, magnetic deflection measurements and thermal conductivity measurements were conducted. Cytotoxicity was measured using the A549 cell viability assay. The results of the mechanical tests showed that the lowest flexural properties were measured in the case of ColorFabb SteelFill (flexural strength: 34.1 MPa ± 0.68 MPa and strain at maximal flexural stress: 1.46% ± 0.06%). It also had the lowest tensile modulus (19.2 MPa ± 0.24 MPa). None of the composites investigated had a cytotoxic effect in short-term contact, and interestingly none of them was electrically conductive. Furthermore, two of the composites (ColorFabb SteelFill and ProtoPasta Iron-filled) have deflected under the influence of homogenous magnetic field. These findings suggest that the examined materials have potential for external biomedical application, along with the possibility of their use in 4D printing.

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