Monitoring the BTEX Volatiles during 3D Printing with Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) Using Electronic Nose and Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometry

We describe a concept study in which the changes of concentration of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) compounds and styrene within a 3D printer enclosure during printing with different acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) filaments were monitored in real-time using a proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer and an electronic nose. The quantitative data on the concentration of the BTEX compounds, in particular the concentration of carcinogenic benzene, were then used as reference values for assessing the applicability of an array of low-cost electrochemical sensors in monitoring the exposure of the users of consumer-grade fused deposition modelling 3D printers to potentially harmful volatiles. Using multivariate statistical analysis and machine learning, it was possible to determine whether a set threshold limit value for the concentration of BTEX was exceeded with a 0.96 classification accuracy and within a timeframe of 5 min based on the responses of the chemical sensors.