Additively manufactured electronics (AMEs), also known as printed electronics, are becoming increasingly important for the anticipated Internet of Things (IoT). Current techniques rely on ink-based printing technologies such as inkjet and aerosol jet printers, which highly suffer from contamination, expensive formulation procedures, and limited materials sources, making it challenging to print pure and multimaterial devices. Here, a multimaterial additive nanomanufacturing (M-ANM) technique utilizing directed laser deposition at the nano and microscale is demonstrated, allowing the printing of lateral and vertical hybrid structures and devices. This M-ANM technique involves pulsed laser ablation of solid targets placed on a target carousel inside the printer head for in-situ generation of contamination-free nanoparticles, which are then directed toward the nozzle and laser-sintered in real-time to form desired patterns and structures layer-by-layer. Different materials, such as Ag, Cu, ZnO, TiO2, BTO, Al2O3, etc, are printed in a single-step process. The quality and versatility of our M-ANM technique offer a potential manufacturing option for emerging IoT.
Currently, printed electronics are manufactured by wet printing technologies such as inkjet and aerosol jet printers, which suffer from major drawbacks, including complex and expensive ink formulations, surfactants/contaminants, limited sources of inks, and the need for high-temperature post-processing. This talk will present a novel additive nanomanufacturing and dry printing technology for multimaterial printing of electronics, sensors, and energy devices. This technology allows in-situ and on-demand generation of various pure nanoparticles (metals, semiconductors, insulators, etc) in the printer head that are then directed toward the printer nozzle and laser-sintered in real-time to form desired patterns and structures layer-by-layer.
The use of printed electronics is rising fast as we move toward the internet of things (IoT). Today, most printed electronics are printed on nonbiodegradable polymers resulting in an exponential increase in E-waste formation. The current printing technologies are liquid/ink-based which are not compatible with biodegradable substrates such as papers. Here, we introduce a novel dry printing method to print conductive silver patterns on biodegradable papers. The effect of different printing parameters on the paper burning threshold is investigated, and the electrical characteristics of the lines are characterized for different line thicknesses and widths. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of the lines are studied by bending, twisting, and adhesion tests. This dry printing technology can pave the way toward eco-friendly and biodegradable papertronics.
A novel additive nanomanufacturing (ANM) technique capable of dry-printing functional materials and devices with high electrical and mechanical performances is presented in this talk. The mechanical behavior of the ANM-printed silver lines on polyimide substrates under bending and cycling tests up to 1 million cycles at different bending radii is studied. The results show that ANM-printed silver lines have nearly no change in resistivity even after 1 million bending cycles. These tests validated its good electrical conductivity and functionality of the printed devices under different strain which makes the ANM as a potential technique for printing flexible electronics and devices.
Printing pure and multimaterial structures and devices in a single process is still in its infancy. Current electronic printing are ink-based technologies that suffer from ink contaminations, complex ink formulation, and limited sources of printing ink making it difficult to print pure and multimaterial structures and devices. Here, for the first time, we report a novel dry multimaterial 3D printing technology which allows printing multiple materials such as barium titanate (BTO), titanium dioxide (TiO2), tin oxide (SnO), zinc oxide (ZnO), aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and silver (Ag) on flexible substrates in a single step process. Flexible ZnO-based photodetectors and flexible electronics are printed and tested to demonstrate the huge impact of this technology on the future of printed electronics, sensors, and energy devices.
Here we have developed a new additive nanomanufacturing (ANM) technique for printing multimaterial structures and patterns on flexible substrates. The ink formulations in the current printed electronics techniques such as inkjet printing and aerosol jet printing is a complex and impure process that limits their applications in printing multifunctional functional devices systems. Also, the required post-treatment processes after every printing make these techniques inefficient and costly. Our ANM technique addressed these challenges by producing various dry and solution-free nanoparticles, which will serve as the building block for printing different multifunctional materials and structures. The printed patterns demonstrate high electrical conductivity and good mechanical reliability, which highlights the promise of this ANM technique dry printing multilateral and flexible hybrid electronics.
Additive manufacturing (AM) and printing concepts have been employed in various fields, including electronics and functional device manufacturing industries. However, to date, the ability to print multifunctional materials and devices have been limited with the current printing technologies. Here we present a new printing concept for additive nanomanufacturing (ANM) of multifunctional material and structures on various substrates. In this method, we show that a stream of pure nanoparticles can be laser-generated in real-time at room temperature and at atmospheric pressure. These nanoparticles are then directed toward a printer nozzle and laser-sintered in-situ to form crystals with desired patterns and structures. Currently, with our ANM systems, we have achieved printing various materials (TiO2, BTO, ITO) on different substrates, including SiO2, PDMS, and paper. We believe this new ANM concept would bring excitement into the field of printing functional structures devices.
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