LAUSR

Many studies exist characterizing the aerosol emissions from fuse filament fabrication three-dimensional (3D) printers. However, nanocluster aerosol (NCA) particles are rarely studied meaning size range under 3 nm. The purpose of this study was to characterize the NCA emissions and the contribution of NCA to the total number emissions from a 3D printer. We used a particle size magnifier (PSM) and a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) to measure the time evolution of particle size distribution, which was used to calculate the average NCA emission rates during a printer operation in a chamber. The NCA emission rates ranged from 1.4·106 to 7.3·109 s-1 depending on the applied combination of filament material and nozzle temperature, showing increasing emission with increasing temperature. The NCA emissions constitute from 9 up to 48 percent of the total emissions, i.e., almost half of the particle emissions may have been previously neglected. Therefore, it is essential to include the low NCA size range in, e.g., future 3D printer testing protocols, emission measurements standards and risk management measures.