polymers Article Spherical Polybutylene Terephthalate (PBT)—Polycarbonate (PC) Blend Particles by Mechanical Alloying and Thermal Rounding Maximilian A. Dechet 1,2,3,†, Juan S. Gómez Bonilla 1,2,3,†, Lydia Lanzl 3,4, Dietmar Drummer 3,4, Andreas Bück 1,2,3, Jochen Schmidt 1,2,3 and Wolfgang Peukert 1,2,3,* 1 Institute of Particle Technology, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Cauerstraße 4, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany;
[email protected] (M.A.D.);
[email protected] (J.S.G.B.);
[email protected] (A.B.);
[email protected] (J.S.) 2 Interdisciplinary Center for Functional Particle Systems, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Haberstraße 9a, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany 3 Collaborative Research Center 814—Additive Manufacturing, Am Weichselgarten 9, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany;
[email protected] (L.L.);
[email protected] (D.D.) 4 Institute of Polymer Technology, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Am Weichselgarten 9, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +49-9131-85-29400 † The authors contributed equally. Received: 22 November 2018; Accepted: 7 December 2018; Published: 11 December 2018 Abstract: In this study, the feasibility of co-grinding and the subsequent thermal rounding to produce spherical polymer blend particles for selective laser sintering (SLS) is demonstrated for polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) and polycarbonate (PC). The polymers are jointly comminuted in a planetary ball mill, and the obtained product particles are rounded in a heated downer reactor. The size distribution of PBT–PC composite particles is characterized with laser diffraction particle sizing, while the shape and morphology are investigated via scanning electron microscopy (SEM).