AccScience Publishing / ESAM / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/ESAM026330017
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Enhancing the LPBF processability of PLCL powder by suppressing cold crystallization via thermal annealing

Xun Yuan1 Xiaolu Zheng1 Junchen Zhou1 Xinli Wang1 Feng Chen1,2 Xiaoxiao Han1,2 Wei Zhu1,2*
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1 College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha , China
2 Intelligent Diagnostics and Therapeutic Equipment Innovation Center, Hunan University, Changsha , China
Received: 10 August 2026 | Revised: 30 August 2026 | Accepted: 1 September 2026 | Published online: 11 September 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

Poly(L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) (PLCL) has emerged as a promising biocompatible copolyester, offering excellent structural flexibility alongside tunable shape-memory properties for advanced biomedical applications. However, its substantial crystallizable amorphous fraction makes it highly susceptible to cold crystallization during powder-bed preheating and laser-induced thermal cycling, resulting in severe powder caking and part warpage during laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). Herein, thermal annealing was used to reduce the crystallizable amorphous fraction available for cold crystallization of PLCL microspheres. Systematic evaluation revealed that annealing at 120 °C for 1 h nearly eliminated the cold-crystallization peak and increased XRD-derived crystallinity of the PLCL microspheres from 34.9% to 47.1%. Meanwhile, the annealed powder retained sufficient elevated-temperature mobility to support stable recoating at a nominal powder-bed preheating temperature of 100 °C, successfully mitigating part warpage during LPBF. At a selected volumetric energy density of 0.37 J/mm³, the printed specimens exhibited an apparent porosity of 11.7 ± 0.4%, a tensile modulus of 206.62 ± 61.39 MPa, and a tensile strength of 5.91 ± 0.72 MPa. The elongation at break reached approximately 180% at 37 °C. As a proof of concept, a PLCL scaffold with a triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) architecture containing curved and overhanging features was successfully fabricated. These results support thermal annealing as a feasible pretreatment strategy for the LPBF processing of PLCL microspheres and provide a basis for future studies of temperature-responsive PLCL scaffolds.

Graphical abstract
Keywords
Poly(L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone)
Thermal annealing
Cold crystallization
Laser powder bed fusion
Shape-memory polymer
Funding
This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52675443), the Opening Project of Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Technique and Equipment for Macromolecular Advanced Manufacturing (Grant No. 242024kfkt05), the Outstanding Youth Project of Education Bureau of Hunan Province, China (Grant No.25B0045), the Science and Technology Innovation Program of Hunan Province (Grant No. 2026RC3103), and the Hunan Provincial Innovation Foundation For Postgraduate (Grant No. CX20250647).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare they have no competing interests.
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Engineering Science in Additive Manufacturing, Electronic ISSN: 3082-849X Published by AccScience Publishing