Development of free binder zirconia-based pastes for the production of dental pieces by robocasting (vol 57, pg 1, 2020)

The current work aims to develop high solid load zirconia pastes without organic binder additives, for the robocasting of dental structures. The effect of the amount of Dolapix CE64 dispersant on the stabilisation of zirconia aqueous suspensions was first tested. The determined optimal amount of dispersant was then used to produce pastes with zirconia concentration in the 80−90 wt% range. Pastes were further studied regarding rheological behaviour and printability. The most printable were used to produce parallelepiped blocks by robocasting; slip casting samples were also produced for comparison. Density, surface roughness, porosity, hardness and toughness of both types of samples were assessed after sintering. Finally, a model molar tooth was produced by robocasting and sintered.