Inkjet printed wireless smart bandage

KAUST Repository

Farooqui, Muhammad Fahad

2016-12-19

Chronic wounds affect millions of patients around the world and requires a major portion of health care budget for treatment. In this article, we present an unprecedented low cost continuous wireless monitoring system, realized through inkjet printing on a standard bandage strip, which can send early warnings as well as record long term wound progression data. The smart bandage can communicate upto a distance of 60 m when worn on the body.

Overall gloss evaluation in the presence of multiple cues to surface glossiness.

Science.gov (United States)

Leloup, Frédéric B; Pointer, Michael R; Dutré, Philip; Hanselaer, Peter

2012-06-01

Human observers use the information offered by various visual cues when evaluating the glossiness of a surface. Several studies have demonstrated the effect of each single cue to glossiness, but little has been reported on how multiple cues are integrated for the perception of surface gloss. This paper reports on a psychophysical study with real stimuli that are different regarding multiple visual gloss criteria. Four samples were presented to 15 observers under different conditions of illumination in a light booth, resulting in a series of 16 stimuli. Through pairwise comparisons, an overall gloss scale was derived, from which it could be concluded that both differences in the distinctness of the reflected image and differences in luminance affect gloss perception. However, an investigation of the observers' strategy to evaluate gloss indicated a dichotomy among observers. One group of observers used the distinctness-of-image as a principal cue to glossiness, while the second group evaluated gloss primarily from differences in luminance of both the specular highlight and the diffuse background. It could therefore be questioned whether surface gloss can be characterized with one single quantity, or that a set of quantities is necessary to describe the gloss differences between objects.

Inkjet color-printer control interface

Science.gov (United States)

Kistler, R.; Kriegler, F. J.; Marshall, R. E.

1977-01-01

Special purpose interface permits computer-driven control of inkjet printers. Inkjet printers are answer to problem of high-speed peripheral output devices for computer systems. Control interface was developed to provide high-resolution color-classification maps quickly and economically from multispectral data.

Non-aqueous pigmented inkjet inks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

DEROOVER, GEERT; Bernaerts, Katrien; HOOGMARTENS, IVAN

2009-01-01

A non-aqueous inkjet ink comprises a benzimidazolone pigment and a polymeric dispersant according to Formula (I): wherein, T represents hydrogen or a polymerization terminating group; Z represents theA non-aqueous inkjet ink comprises a benzimidazolone pigment and a polymeric dispersant according to

Review of Recent Inkjet-Printed Capacitive Tactile Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmed Salim

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Inkjet printing is an advanced printing technology that has been used to develop conducting layers, interconnects and other features on a variety of substrates. It is an additive manufacturing process that offers cost-effective, lightweight designs and simplifies the fabrication process with little effort. There is hardly sufficient research on tactile sensors and inkjet printing. Advancements in materials science and inkjet printing greatly facilitate the realization of sophisticated tactile sensors. Starting from the concept of capacitive sensing, a brief comparison of printing techniques, the essential requirements of inkjet-printing and the attractive features of state-of-the art inkjet-printed tactile sensors developed on diverse substrates (paper, polymer, glass and textile are presented in this comprehensive review. Recent trends in inkjet-printed wearable/flexible and foldable tactile sensors are evaluated, paving the way for future research.

Tintas Ink-Jet para Decoracion 3D

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Spain S.A., Ferro

2011-04-01

Full Text Available A new set of different ink-jet inks to be apply as a 3D object and extrafine layers to protect the decoration made by ink-jet technology. These new inks are obtained through the development of new frits based on monophasic crystal vitro structures that allows ceramic effects obtained via digital decoration. The new inks improve the ability of application by ink-jet heads in order to achieve aesthetics and decorative effects than those obtained with conventional decoration.

Se han desarrollado un conjunto de diferentes tintas ink-jet, para aplicar como objeto 3D y capas extrafinas con el fin de proteger la decoración realizada mediante tecnología ink-jet. Estas nuevas tintas se obtienen a través del desarrollo de nuevas fritas basadas en estructuras vitro cristalinas monofásicas que permiten obtener efectos cerámicos mediante decoración digital. Las nuevas tintas mejoran la capacidad de aplicación mediante cabezales ink-jet con el fin de conseguir efectos estéticos y decorativos superiores a los obtenidos con la decoración convencional.

Inverse-based feedforward control for an inkjet printhead

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ezzeldin Mahdy Abdelmonem, M.; Bosch, van den P.P.J.; Weiland, S.

2011-01-01

Inkjet is an important technology in document printing and many new industrial applications. As inkjet developments are moving towards higher productivity and quality, it is required to achieve droplets which are small and fired at a high jetting frequency. Inkjet printers are now widely used to

Structure- and fluid-dynamics in piezo inkjet printheads

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wijshoff, Herman

2008-01-01

Inkjet printing is an important technology in color document production [133]. The rapid development of inkjet technology started off around the late fifties. Since then, many inkjet devices have seen the light of day. In this overview, the attention is mainly restricted to the development towards

Organic Solar Cell by Inkjet Printing—An Overview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sharaf Sumaiya

2017-08-01

Full Text Available In recent years, organic solar cells became more attractive due to their flexible power devices and the potential for low-cost manufacturing. Inkjet printing is a very potential manufacturing technique of organic solar cells because of its low material usage, flexibility, and large area formation. In this paper, we presented an overall review on the inkjet printing technology as well as advantages of inkjet-printing, comparison of inkjet printing with other printing technologies and its potential for organic solar cells (OSCs. Here we highlighted in more details about the viability of environment-friendly and cost-effective, non-halogenated indium tin oxide (ITO free large scale roll to roll production of the OSC by inkjet printing technology. The challenges of inkjet printing like the viscosity limitations, nozzle clogging, coffee ring effect, and limitation of printability as well as dot spacing are also discussed. Lastly, some of the improvement strategies for getting the higher efficiency of the OSCs have been suggested.

Genotyping-by-sequencing of waxy and glossy near-isogenic broccoli lines

Science.gov (United States)

Wild-type Brassica oleracea L. have matte blue-green leaves caused by an interaction between leaf pigmentation and a waxy bloom coating the surface. Glossy mutants have reduced and/or altered epicuticular wax giving the leaves a shiny green appearance and have been identified in most B. oleracea cro...

Inkjet Printed Radio Frequency Passive Components

KAUST Repository

McKerricher, Garret

2015-12-01

Inkjet printing is a mature technique for colourful graphic arts. It excels at customized, large area, high resolution, and small volume production. With the developments in conductive, and dielectric inks, there is potential for large area inkjet electronics fabrication. Passive radio frequency devices can benefit greatly from a printing process, since the size of these devices is defined by the frequency of operation. The large size of radio frequency passives means that they either take up expensive space “on chip” or that they are fabricated on a separate lower cost substrate and somehow bonded to the chips. This has hindered cost-sensitive high volume applications such as radio frequency identification tags. Substantial work has been undertaken on inkjet-printed conductors for passive antennas on microwave substrates and even paper, yet there has been little work on the printing of the dielectric materials aimed at radio frequency passives. Both the conductor and dielectric need to be integrated to create a multilayer inkjet printing process that is capable of making quality passives such as capacitors and inductors. Three inkjet printed dielectrics are investigated in this thesis: a ceramic (alumina), a thermal-cured polymer (poly 4 vinyl phenol), and a UV-cured polymer (acrylic based). For the conductor, both a silver nanoparticle ink as well as a custom in-house formulated particle-free silver ink are explored. The focus is on passives, mainly capacitors and inductors. Compared to low frequency electronics, radio frequency components have additional sensitivity regarding skin depth of the conductor and surface roughness, as well as dielectric constant and loss tangent of the dielectric. These concerns are investigated with the aim of making the highest quality components possible and to understand the current limitations of inkjet-fabricated radio frequency devices. An inkjet-printed alumina dielectric that provides quality factors of 200 and high

Visual ergonomic aspects of glare on computer displays: glossy screens and angular dependence

Science.gov (United States)

Brunnström, Kjell; Andrén, Börje; Konstantinides, Zacharias; Nordström, Lukas

2007-02-01

Recently flat panel computer displays and notebook computer are designed with a so called glare panel i.e. highly glossy screens, have emerged on the market. The shiny look of the display appeals to the costumers, also there are arguments that the contrast, colour saturation etc improves by using a glare panel. LCD displays suffer often from angular dependent picture quality. This has been even more pronounced by the introduction of Prism Light Guide plates into displays for notebook computers. The TCO label is the leading labelling system for computer displays. Currently about 50% of all computer displays on the market are certified according to the TCO requirements. The requirements are periodically updated to keep up with the technical development and the latest research in e.g. visual ergonomics. The gloss level of the screen and the angular dependence has recently been investigated by conducting user studies. A study of the effect of highly glossy screens compared to matt screens has been performed. The results show a slight advantage for the glossy screen when no disturbing reflexes are present, however the difference was not statistically significant. When disturbing reflexes are present the advantage is changed into a larger disadvantage and this difference is statistically significant. Another study of angular dependence has also been performed. The results indicates a linear relationship between the picture quality and the centre luminance of the screen.

Bubbles in piezo-acoustic inkjet printing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lohse, D.; Jeurissen, R.J.M.; de Jong, J.; Versluis, M.; Wijshoff, H.M.A.; van den Berg, M.; Reinten, H.

2008-01-01

Ink-jet printing is considered as the hitherto most successful application of microfluidics. A notorious problem in piezo-acoustic ink-jet systems is the formation of air bubbles during operation. They seriously disturb the acoustics and can cause the droplet formation to stop. We could show by a

Recent Advances in Controlling the Depositing Morphologies of Inkjet Droplets.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Jiazhen; Bao, Bin; He, Min; Zhou, Haihua; Song, Yanlin

2015-12-30

Inkjet printing has been widely used in functional material patterning for fabrication of optical/electrical devices. The depositing morphologies of inkjet droplets are critical to the resolution and performance of resulted functional patterns. This review summarizes various strategies to control the depositing morphologies of inkjet droplets, including suppressing and utilizing coffee-ring effect, employing liquid substrates, developing patterned substrates and controlling droplets coalescence. Moreover, the remaining challenges in controlling inkjet droplets are presented, and the broad research and application prospects of controlling nanomaterial patterning by inkjet printing are proposed.

Inkjet-Printed Biofunctional Thermo-Plasmonic Interfaces for Patterned Neuromodulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Hongki; Lee, Gu-Haeng; Jung, Hyunjun; Lee, Jee Woong; Nam, Yoonkey

2018-02-27

Localized heat generation by the thermo-plasmonic effect of metal nanoparticles has great potential in biomedical engineering research. Precise patterning of the nanoparticles using inkjet printing can enable the application of the thermo-plasmonic effect in a well-controlled way (shape and intensity). However, a universally applicable inkjet printing process that allows good control in patterning and assembly of nanoparticles with good biocompatibility is missing. Here we developed inkjet-printing-based biofunctional thermo-plasmonic interfaces that can modulate biological activities. We found that inkjet printing of plasmonic nanoparticles on a polyelectrolyte layer-by-layer substrate coating enables high-quality, biocompatible thermo-plasmonic interfaces across various substrates (rigid/flexible, hydrophobic/hydrophilic) by induced contact line pinning and electrostatically assisted nanoparticle assembly. We experimentally confirmed that the generated heat from the inkjet-printed thermo-plasmonic patterns can be applied in micrometer resolution over a large area. Lastly, we demonstrated that the patterned thermo-plasmonic effect from the inkjet-printed gold nanorods can selectively modulate neuronal network activities. This inkjet printing process therefore can be a universal method for biofunctional thermo-plasmonic interfaces in various bioengineering applications.

Why do rough surfaces appear glossy?

Science.gov (United States)

Qi, Lin; Chantler, Mike J; Siebert, J Paul; Dong, Junyu

2014-05-01

The majority of work on the perception of gloss has been performed using smooth surfaces (e.g., spheres). Previous studies that have employed more complex surfaces reported that increasing mesoscale roughness increases perceived gloss [Psychol. Sci.19, 196 (2008), J. Vis.10(9), 13 (2010), Curr. Biol.22, 1909 (2012)]. We show that the use of realistic rendering conditions is important and that, in contrast to [Psychol. Sci.19, 196 (2008), J. Vis.10(9), 13 (2010)], after a certain point increasing roughness further actually reduces glossiness. We investigate five image statistics of estimated highlights and show that for our stimuli, one in particular, which we term "percentage of highlight area," is highly correlated with perceived gloss. We investigate a simple model that explains the unimodal, nonmonotonic relationship between mesoscale roughness and percentage highlight area.

Air entrapment in piezo-driven inkjet printheads

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Jong, J.; de Bruin, G.J.; de Bruin, Gerrit; Reinten, Hans; van den Berg, Marc; Wijshoff, Herman; Wijshoff, H.; Versluis, Michel; Lohse, Detlef

2006-01-01

The stability of inkjet printers is a major requirement for high-quality-printing. However, in piezo-driven inkjet printheads, air entrapment can lead to malfunctioning of the jet formation. The piezoactuator is employed to actively monitor the channel acoustics and to identify distortions at an

Recent advances in inkjet dispensing technologies: applications in drug discovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Xiangcheng; Zheng, Qiang; Yang, Hu; Cai, Jin; Huang, Lei; Duan, Yanwen; Xu, Zhinan; Cen, Peilin

2012-09-01

Inkjet dispensing technology is a promising fabrication methodology widely applied in drug discovery. The automated programmable characteristics and high-throughput efficiency makes this approach potentially very useful in miniaturizing the design patterns for assays and drug screening. Various custom-made inkjet dispensing systems as well as specialized bio-ink and substrates have been developed and applied to fulfill the increasing demands of basic drug discovery studies. The incorporation of other modern technologies has further exploited the potential of inkjet dispensing technology in drug discovery and development. This paper reviews and discusses the recent developments and practical applications of inkjet dispensing technology in several areas of drug discovery and development including fundamental assays of cells and proteins, microarrays, biosensors, tissue engineering, basic biological and pharmaceutical studies. Progression in a number of areas of research including biomaterials, inkjet mechanical systems and modern analytical techniques as well as the exploration and accumulation of profound biological knowledge has enabled different inkjet dispensing technologies to be developed and adapted for high-throughput pattern fabrication and miniaturization. This in turn presents a great opportunity to propel inkjet dispensing technology into drug discovery.

Inkjet printhead and inkjet printer containing the same printhead

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2006-01-01

A inkjet printhead containing two substantially closed ink chambers separated by a wall, each of the chambers having associated therewith an electromechanical converter, where actuation of the converter corresponding to a first chamber of said printhead will lead to a volume change in a second

Model-free optimization based feedforward control for an inkjet printhead

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ezzeldin Mahdy Abdelmonem, M.; Bosch, van den P.P.J.; Jokic, A.; Waarsing, R.

2010-01-01

Inkjet is an important technology in document printing and many new industrial applications. As inkjet developments are moving towards higher productivity and quality, it is required to achieve small droplet size which is fired at a high jetting frequency. Inkjet printers are now widely used to form

Inkjet-printed Polyvinyl Alcohol Multilayers.

Science.gov (United States)

Salaoru, Iulia; Zhou, Zuoxin; Morris, Peter; Gibbons, Gregory J

2017-05-11

Inkjet printing is a modern method for polymer processing, and in this work, we demonstrate that this technology is capable of producing polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) multilayer structures. A polyvinyl alcohol aqueous solution was formulated. The intrinsic properties of the ink, such as surface tension, viscosity, pH, and time stability, were investigated. The PVOH-based ink was a neutral solution (pH 6.7) with a surface tension of 39.3 mN/m and a viscosity of 7.5 cP. The ink displayed pseudoplastic (non-Newtonian shear thinning) behavior at low shear rates, and overall, it demonstrated good time stability. The wettability of the ink on different substrates was investigated, and glass was identified as the most suitable substrate in this particular case. A proprietary 3D inkjet printer was employed to manufacture polymer multilayer structures. The morphology, surface profile, and thickness uniformity of inkjet-printed multilayers were evaluated via optical microscopy.

Inkjet printer

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2006-01-01

An inkjet printer for jetting ink that is substantially free of solvent, the printer containing a printhead having an ink chamber with an ink inlet and an ink outlet, an ink supply reservoir in fluid connection with the chamber via the ink inlet, an electromechanical transducer in operative

Inkjet printing and inkjet infiltration of functional coatings for SOFCs fabrication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomov Rumen I.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Inkjet printing fabrication and modification of electrodes and electrolytes of SOFCs were studied. Electromagnetic print-heads were utilized to reproducibly dispense droplets of inks at rates of several kHz on demand. Printing parameters including pressure, nozzle opening time and drop spreading were studied in order to optimize the inks jetting and delivery. Scanning electron microscopy revealed highly conformal ~ 6-10 μm thick dense electrolyte layers routinely produced on cermet and metal porous supports. Open circuit voltages ranging from 0.95 to 1.01 V, and a maximum power density of ~180 mW.cm−2 were measured at 750 °C on Ni-8YSZ/YSZ/LSM single cell 50×50 mm in size. The effect of anode and cathode microstructures on the electrochemical performance was investigated. Two - step fabrication of the electrodes using inkjet printing infiltration was implemented. In the first step the porous electrode scaffold was created printing suspension composite inks. During the second step inkjet printing infiltration was utilized for controllable loading of active elements and a formation of nano-grid decorations on the scaffolds radically reducing the activation polarization losses of both electrodes. Symmetrical cells of both types were characterized by impedance spectroscopy in order to reveal the relation between the microstructure and the electrochemical performance.

Paper-based inkjet-printed ultra-wideband fractal antennas

KAUST Repository

Maza, Armando Rodriguez; Cook, Benjamin Stassen; Jabbour, Ghassan E.; Shamim, Atif

2012-01-01

For the first time, paper-based inkjet-printed ultra-wideband (UWB) fractal antennas are presented. Two new designs, a miniaturised UWB monopole, which utilises a fractal matching network and is the smallest reported inkjet-printed UWB printed

Paper-based inkjet-printed ultra-wideband fractal antennas

KAUST Repository

Maza, Armando Rodriguez

2012-01-01

For the first time, paper-based inkjet-printed ultra-wideband (UWB) fractal antennas are presented. Two new designs, a miniaturised UWB monopole, which utilises a fractal matching network and is the smallest reported inkjet-printed UWB printed antenna to date, and a fourth-order Koch Snowflake monopole, which utilises a Sierpinski gasket fractal for ink reduction, are demonstrated. It is shown that fractals prove to be a successful method of reducing fabrication costs in inkjet-printed antennas, while retaining or enhancing printed antenna performance. © 2012 The Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Inkjet-printed silver tracks on different paper substrates

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Joubert, T-H

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Inkjet printing is a widely used patterning method in industrial and scientific applications, and has also drawn attention in the field of printed electronics in recent years [1]. In this work, conductive silver tracks were achieved by inkjet...

Fabrication of Fully Inkjet-Printed Vias and SIW Structures on Thick Polymer Substrates

KAUST Repository

Kim, Sangkil; Shamim, Atif; Georgiadis, Apostolos; Aubert, Herve; Tentzeris, Manos M.

2016-01-01

In this paper, a novel fully inkjet-printed via fabrication technology and various inkjet-printed substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) structures on thick polymer substrates are presented. The electrical properties of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) are thoroughly studied up to 8 GHz utilizing the T-resonator method, and inkjet-printable silver nanoparticle ink on PMMA is characterized. A long via fabrication process up to 1 mm utilizing inkjet-printing technology is demonstrated, and its characteristics are presented for the first time. The inkjet-printed vias on 0.8-mm-thick substrate have a resistance of ∼ 0.2~ Ω . An equivalent circuit model of the inkjet-printed stepped vias is also discussed. An inkjet-printed microstrip-to-SIW interconnect and an SIW cavity resonator utilizing the proposed inkjet-printed via fabrication process are also presented. The design of the components and the fabrication steps are discussed, and the measured performances over the microwave frequency range of the prototypes are presented.

Fabrication of Fully Inkjet-Printed Vias and SIW Structures on Thick Polymer Substrates

KAUST Repository

Kim, Sangkil

2016-02-11

In this paper, a novel fully inkjet-printed via fabrication technology and various inkjet-printed substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) structures on thick polymer substrates are presented. The electrical properties of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) are thoroughly studied up to 8 GHz utilizing the T-resonator method, and inkjet-printable silver nanoparticle ink on PMMA is characterized. A long via fabrication process up to 1 mm utilizing inkjet-printing technology is demonstrated, and its characteristics are presented for the first time. The inkjet-printed vias on 0.8-mm-thick substrate have a resistance of ∼ 0.2~ Ω . An equivalent circuit model of the inkjet-printed stepped vias is also discussed. An inkjet-printed microstrip-to-SIW interconnect and an SIW cavity resonator utilizing the proposed inkjet-printed via fabrication process are also presented. The design of the components and the fabrication steps are discussed, and the measured performances over the microwave frequency range of the prototypes are presented.

Inkjet Printing of Paper-Based Wideband and High Gain Antennas

KAUST Repository

Cook, Benjamin

2011-12-07

This thesis represents a major contribution to wideband and high gain inkjet-printed antennas on paper. This work includes the complete characterization of the inkjet printing process for passive microwave devices on paper substrate as well as several ultra-wideband and high gain antenna designs. The characterization work includes the electrical characterization of the permittivity and loss tangent for paper substrate through 10 GHz, ink conductivity data for variable sintering conditions, and minimum feature sizes obtainable by today’s current inkjet processes for metallic nanoparticles. For the first time ever, inkjet-printed antennas are demonstrated that operate over the entire UWB band and demonstrate gains up to 8dB. This work also presents the first fractal-based inkjet-printed antennas with enhanced bandwidth and reduced production costs, and a novel slow wave log periodic dipole array which shows minimizations of 20% in width over conventional log periodic antennas.

Microstructures prepared via inkjet printing and embossing techniques

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Perelaer, J.

2009-01-01

The goal of the work presented in this thesis is the combined use of inkjet printing and embossing techniques to fabricate microstructures. The thesis is divided into two sections. The first part (Chapters 1 to 4) describes a bottom-up procedure using inkjet printing to fabricate microstructures

Bubbles in inkjet printheads: analytical and numerical models

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jeurissen, R.J.M.

2009-01-01

The phenomenon of nozzle failure of an inkjet printhead due to entrainment of air bubbles was studies using analytical and numerical models. The studied inkjet printheads consist of many channels in which an acoustic field is generated to eject a droplet. When an air bubble is entrained, it disrupts

Bubbles in inkjet printheads : analytical and numerical models

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jeurissen, R.J.M.

2009-01-01

The phenomenon of nozzle failure of an inkjet printhead due to entrainment of air bubbles was studies using analytical and numerical models. The studied inkjet printheads consist of many channels in which an acoustic field is generated to eject a droplet. When an air bubble is entrained, it disrupts

Inkjet printed ferrite-filled rectangular waveguide X-band isolator

KAUST Repository

Farooqui, Muhammad Fahad

2014-06-01

For the first time, a rectangular waveguide (RWG) isolator realized through inkjet printing on a ferrite substrate is presented. Yttrium iron garnet (YIG) substrate is used for the realization of the ferrite-filled isolator. Contrary to the substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) approach, all four walls of the waveguide have been inkjet printed on the YIG substrate demonstrating the utility of inkjet printing process for realizing non-planar microwave components. The isolation is achieved by applying an anti-symmetrical DC magnetic bias to the ferrite-filled waveguide which then exhibits a unidirectional mode of operation. The isolator is fed by a microstrip to RWG transition and demonstrates an isolation figure-of-merit (IFM) of more than 51 dB in the operating band from 9.95 GHz to 11.73 GHz with a very high peak IFM of 69 dB. The minimum insertion loss in the operating band is 2.73 dB (including losses from the transitions). The isolator measures 33 mm × 8 mm × 0.4 mm. This work introduces an inkjet printed non-planar microwave device which is easy to fabricate showing the ability of inkjet printing for fabricating complex microwave systems. © 2014 IEEE.

Current Trends on Medical and Pharmaceutical Applications of Inkjet Printing Technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Scoutaris, Nicolaos; Ross, Steven; Douroumis, Dennis

2016-08-01

Inkjet printing is an attractive material deposition and patterning technology that has received significant attention in the recent years. It has been exploited for novel applications including high throughput screening, pharmaceutical formulations, medical devices and implants. Moreover, inkjet printing has been implemented in cutting-edge 3D-printing healthcare areas such as tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Recent inkjet advances enabled 3D printing of artificial cartilage and skin, or cell constructs for transplantation therapies. In the coming years inkjet printing is anticipated to revolutionize personalized medicine and push the innovation portfolio by offering new paths in patient - specific treatments.

3D inkjet printed flexible and wearable antenna systems

KAUST Repository

Shamim, Atif

2017-01-01

extremely low cost, to the extent that they become disposable. The flexible and low cost aspects can be addressed by adapting additive manufacturing technologies such as inkjet printing and 3D printing. This paper presents inkjet printing as an emerging new

Principal component analysis for the forensic discrimination of black inkjet inks based on the Vis-NIR fibre optics reflection spectra.

Science.gov (United States)

Gál, Lukáš; Oravec, Michal; Gemeiner, Pavol; Čeppan, Michal

2015-12-01

Nineteen black inkjet inks of six different brands were examined by fibre optics reflection spectroscopy in Visible and Near Infrared Region (Vis-NIR FORS) directly on paper with a view to achieving good resolution between them. These different inks were tested on nineteen different inkjet printers from three brands. Samples were obtained from prints by reflection probe. Processed reflection spectra in the range 500-1000 nm were used as samples in principal component analysis. Variability between spectra of the same ink obtained from different prints, as well as between spectra of square areas and lines was examined. For both spectra obtained from square areas and lines reference, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) models were created. According to these models, the inkjet inks were divided into clusters. PCA method is able to separate inks containing carbon black as main colorant from the other inks using other colorants. Some spectra were recorded from another piece of printer and used as validation samples. Spectra of validation samples were projected onto reference PCA models. According to position of validation samples in score plots it can be concluded that PCA based on Vis-NIR FORS can reliably differentiate inkjet inks which are included in the reference database. The presented method appears to be a suitable tool for forensic examination of questioned documents containing inkjet inks. Inkjet inks spectra were obtained without extraction or cutting sample with possibility to measure out of the laboratory. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Highly Conductive Nano-Silver Circuits by Inkjet Printing

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Dongbin; Wu, Minqiang

2018-06-01

Inkjet technology has become popular in the field of printed electronics due to its superior properties such as simple processes and printable complex patterns. Electrical conductivity of the circuits is one of the key factors in measuring the performance of printed electronics, which requires great material properties and a manufactured process. With excellent conductivity and ductility, silver is an ideal material as the wire connecting components. This review summarizes the progress of conductivity studies on inkjet printed nano-silver lines, including ink composition and nanoparticle morphology, deposition of nano-silver lines with uniform and high aspect ratios, sintering mechanisms and alternative methods of thermal sintering. Finally, the research direction on inkjet printed electronics is proposed.

Piezo inkjet printer

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2006-01-01

An inkjet printer containing a substantially closed ink duct and a transducer used to generate a pressure wave in the duct, wherein the transducer comprises a first part and, separate from the first part, a second part whereby, by actuation of the transducer, the first part manifests a first

Inkjet printing of transparent sol-gel computer generated holograms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yakovlev, A.; Pidko, E.A.; Vinogradov, A.

2016-01-01

In this paper we report for the first time a method for the production of transparent computer generated holograms by desktop inkjet printing. Here we demonstrate a methodology suitable for the development of a practical approach towards fabrication of diffraction patterns using a desktop inkjet

All inkjet printed 3D microwave capacitors and inductors with vias

KAUST Repository

McKerricher, Garret

2013-06-01

For the first time we present a method to create all inkjet printed multilayer RF passive components including vias. Although there has been previous work on multilayer RF components, they are not fully inkjet printed and involve complicated processing techniques such as laser cutting, conductive epoxy, or reactive ion etching This work demonstrates a truly all inkjet printed solution with a novel dissolving method for vias realization. A major issue with inkjet printing is often surface roughness, however by processing these materials at low temperature surface roughness <20nm RMS has been obtained which allows for high quality components to be fabricated and allows for stacked multilayer designs. © 2013 IEEE.

All inkjet printed 3D microwave capacitors and inductors with vias

KAUST Repository

McKerricher, Garret; Gonzá lez, Juan Carlos Cano; Shamim, Atif

2013-01-01

For the first time we present a method to create all inkjet printed multilayer RF passive components including vias. Although there has been previous work on multilayer RF components, they are not fully inkjet printed and involve complicated processing techniques such as laser cutting, conductive epoxy, or reactive ion etching This work demonstrates a truly all inkjet printed solution with a novel dissolving method for vias realization. A major issue with inkjet printing is often surface roughness, however by processing these materials at low temperature surface roughness <20nm RMS has been obtained which allows for high quality components to be fabricated and allows for stacked multilayer designs. © 2013 IEEE.

Inheritance of the characters glossy and mat of the seed coat in beans (Phaseolus Vulgaris L.) in norm and after gamma rays and ethylmethanesulfonate treatment in Fo anf F1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodriges, F.; Rukmanski, G.

1990-01-01

Reciprocal crosses were made between the following cultivars: 1) kidney bean cvs. Dobrudzhanski 7, Tyrnovo 13 and Astor, having glossy seeds, and Sataya 425 with mat seeds; 2) string bean cvs. Oreol and Zarya (glossy) and Starozagorski Cheren (glossy). Seeds of F o and F 1 were treated with 10 krad gamma rays and 0.01% ethylmethanesulfonate using the mutagens singly and in combination. Deviations from the expected segregation of the characters were observed in kidney beans, being most pronounced following the consequtive treatment, which may be explaned by arisal of mutations and increased frequencies of recombinatipon in the genetic material. This assumption was confirmed in string beans where post mutagen treatment mat seeds were found in hybrids from parental cultivars with glossy seeds and the mat seeds were presented in the following generation. These changes could be explained by arisal of recessive mutations. It is concluded that the combined application of hybridization and mutagenesis increases genetic diversity of the hybrid progeny in regard to glossy and mat bean seed coat. 4 tabs., 2 refs

Inkjet Printing of 3D Metallic Silver Complex Microstructures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wits, Wessel Willems; Sridhar, Ashok; Dimitrov, D.

2010-01-01

To broaden the scope of inkjet printing, this paper focuses on printing of an organic silver complex ink on glass substrates towards the fabrication of metallic 3D microstructures. The droplet formation sequence of the inkjet printer is optimised to print continuous layers of metal. A brief

Tunable inkjet-printed slotted waveguide antenna on a ferrite substrate

KAUST Repository

Nafe, Ahmed; Farooqui, Muhammad; Shamim, Atif

2015-01-01

In this work an inkjet-printed frequency-tunable slotted waveguide antenna on a ferrite substrate is reported. Unlike the typical substrate integrated waveguide approach with via holes, a true 3D rectangular waveguide is realized by inkjet-printing

Inkjet printing of aligned single-walled carbon-nanotube thin films

Science.gov (United States)

Takagi, Yuki; Nobusa, Yuki; Gocho, Shota; Kudou, Hikaru; Yanagi, Kazuhiro; Kataura, Hiromichi; Takenobu, Taishi

2013-04-01

We report a method for the inkjet printing of aligned single-walled carbon-nanotube (SWCNT) films by combining inkjet technology with the strong wettability contrast between hydrophobic and hydrophilic areas based on the patterning of self-assembled monolayers. Both the drying process control using the strong wettability boundary and the coffee-stain effect strongly promote the aggregation of SWCNTs along the contact line of a SWCNT ink droplet, thereby demonstrating our achievement of inkjet-printed aligned SWCNT films. This method could open routes for developing high-performance and environmentally friendly SWCNT printed electronics.

3D inkjet printed radio frequency inductors and capacitors

KAUST Repository

Vaseem, Mohammad

2016-12-08

Inkjet printing has emerged as an ideal method for the fabrication of low cost and efficient electronic systems. However, most of the printed designs at present utilize 2D inkjet printing of metallic inks on conventional substrates. In order to have fully printed RF components, the substrate must also be printed. 3D printing of polymers can be an ideal mechanism for printing substrates, however typically such materials cannot handle high sintering temperatures (>150 0C) required for nanoparticles based metallic inks. In this work, an all-inkjet printed process is demonstrated that utilizes 3D inkjet printing of a UV-cured dielectric material in combination with the printing of a particle free conductive silver organo-complex (SOC) ink for realization of inductors and capacitors. The processing temperature does not exceed 80 0C and still state of the art conductivity of 1×107 S/m is achieved. Both the conductive ink and dielectric have roughness values under 500 nm. The inductor and capacitor exhibit quality factors of 8 and 20 respectively in the high MHz and GHz regime.

Exotic Invasive Shrub Glossy Buckthorn Reduces Restoration Potential for Native Forest Herbs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caroline Hamelin

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Invasive glossy buckthorn could reduce restoration potential for understory native forest herbs by compromising their growth and biodiversity. Few studies of glossy buckthorn’s effects on forest herbs exist, and none were done in early-successional, partially open hardwood forests. This study was conducted in a mature hybrid poplar plantation invaded by buckthorn, located in southeastern Québec. We tested the effect of buckthorn removal on the growth of three forest herb species, whether this effect varied among species, and if canopy type (two poplar clones influenced this effect. Forest herbs were planted in herbicide (buckthorn removed and control treatments in the plantation understory, an environment similar to that of early-successional hardwood forests. Over the first two growing seasons, species showed specific reactions to buckthorn cover. Mean relative growth rate (RGR for Asarum canadense and Polygonatum pubescens was increased in the herbicide treatment (48% and 33%, respectively and decreased in the control treatment (−35% and −33%, respectively. Sanguinaria canadensis growth was the highest among species, with no difference between treatments. No effects of canopy type were detected. Results suggest that planting forest herbs for restoration purposes may be unsuccessful if buckthorn is present. Important changes in understory flora biodiversity are likely to occur over the long term in forests invaded by buckthorn.

Numerical simulation of evaporation and absorption of inkjet printed droplets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Siregar, D.P.

2012-01-01

Inkjet printing is an important field of research for many industrial applications. In particular, the inkjet-printing technology is widely used in the production of a text or graphics of documents stored in electronic form by printing ink on papers and the manufacturing of microarray slides by

Water Based Inkjet Material Deposition Of Donor-Acceptor Nanoparticles For Usage In Organic Photovoltaics

Science.gov (United States)

Penmetcha, Anirudh Raju

Significant efficiency increases are being made for bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic prototype devices with world records at 11%. However the chlorinated solvents most frequently used in prototype manufacture would cause local health and safety concerns or large scale environmental pollution upon expansion of these techniques for commercialization. Moreover, research to bridge prototype and large-scale production of these solar cells is still in its infancy. Most prototype devices are made in inert glove box environments using spin-coating. There is a need to develop a non-toxic ink and incorporate it into a material deposition system that can be used in mass production. In this thesis, P3HT:PCBM organic photovoltaic devices were fabricated with the help of inkjet printing. P3HT:PCBM blends were dissolved in organic solvent systems, and this solution was used as the ink for the printer. The "coffee-ring effect" as well as the effect of inkjet printing parameters on film formation were highlighted - thus the inkjet printing method was validated as a stepping stone between lab-scale production of OPVs and large-scale roll-to-roll manufacturing. To address the need of a non-toxic ink, P3HT:PCBM blends were then dispersed in water, using the miniemulsion method. The nanoparticles were characterized for their size, as well as the blending between the P3HT and PCBM within the nanoparticle. These dispersions were then converted into inks. Finally, these nanoparticle inks were inkjet-printed to fabricate OPV devices. Based on the results obtained here, tentative "next steps" have been outlined in order to improve upon this research work, in the future.

Metrological issues related to BRDF measurements around the specular direction in the particular case of glossy surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Obein, Gaël.; Audenaert, Jan; Ged, Guillaume; Leloup, Frédéric B.

2015-03-01

Among the complete bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF), visual gloss is principally related to physical reflection characteristics located around the specular reflection direction. This particular part of the BRDF is usually referred to as the specular peak. A good starting point for the physical description of gloss could be to measure the reflection properties around this specular peak. Unfortunately, such a characterization is not trivial, since for glossy surfaces the width of the specular peak can become very narrow (typically a full width at half maximum inferior to 0.5° is encountered). In result, new BRDF measurement devices with a very small solid angle of detection are being introduced. Yet, differences in the optical design of BRDF measurement instruments engender different measurement results for the same specimen, complicating direct comparison of the measurement results. This issue is addressed in this paper. By way of example, BRDF measurement results of two samples, one being matte and the other one glossy, obtained by use of two high level goniospectrophotometers with a different optical design, are described. Important discrepancies in the results of the glossy sample are discussed. Finally, luminance maps obtained from renderings with the acquired BRDF data are presented, exemplifying the large visual differences that might be obtained. This stresses the metrological aspects that must be known for using BRDF data. Indeed, the comprehension of parameters affecting the measurement results is an inevitable step towards progress in the metrology of surface gloss, and thus towards a better metrology of appearance in general.

Influence of primitive Biłgoraj horses on the glossy buckthorn (Frangula alnus)-dominated understory in a mixed coniferous forest

Science.gov (United States)

Klich, Daniel

2018-02-01

Changes in the understory dominated by glossy buckthorn Frangula alnus via the influence of primitive horses were analyzed in a 28-year-old enclosure in the village of Szklarnia at the Biłgoraj Horse-Breeding Centre near Janów Lubelski (eastern Poland). The analysis was conducted in 20 circular plots (30 m2) defined in adjacent, similar forest stands (enclosed and control). Disturbance by the horses, mainly through trampling, caused numerous paths to form within the glossy buckthorn-dominated understory and led to a decrease in density of stems of lower height classes (30-80 and 81-130 cm, respectively). An increase in species diversity at the expense of glossy buckthorn density was also observed. The horses' trampling caused an increase in Padus avium density and the encroachment of other woody plant species that were less shade-tolerant and grew well in soils rich in nutrients. An increase in the density of woody plants over 180 cm above ground was observed within the enclosure, which was probably the result of the horses' excretion of feces. The results presented here provide new insight into the ecological role that horses play in forest-meadow landscape mosaics, which, via altering the development of vegetation, may contribute to an increase in biodiversity within forest habitats.

Inkjet-Printed Organic Transistors Based on Organic Semiconductor/Insulating Polymer Blends.

Science.gov (United States)

Kwon, Yoon-Jung; Park, Yeong Don; Lee, Wi Hyoung

2016-08-02

Recent advances in inkjet-printed organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) based on organic semiconductor/insulating polymer blends are reviewed in this article. Organic semiconductor/insulating polymer blends are attractive ink candidates for enhancing the jetting properties, inducing uniform film morphologies, and/or controlling crystallization behaviors of organic semiconductors. Representative studies using soluble acene/insulating polymer blends as an inkjet-printed active layer in OFETs are introduced with special attention paid to the phase separation characteristics of such blended films. In addition, inkjet-printed semiconducting/insulating polymer blends for fabricating high performance printed OFETs are reviewed.

Coffee-Ring Defined Short Channels for Inkjet-Printed Metal Oxide Thin-Film Transistors.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yuzhi; Lan, Linfeng; Xiao, Peng; Sun, Sheng; Lin, Zhenguo; Song, Wei; Song, Erlong; Gao, Peixiong; Wu, Weijing; Peng, Junbiao

2016-08-03

Short-channel electronic devices several micrometers in length are difficult to implement by direct inkjet printing due to the limitation of position accuracy of the common inkjet printer system and the spread of functional ink on substrates. In this report, metal oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs) with channel lengths of 3.5 ± 0.7 μm were successfully fabricated with a common inkjet printer without any photolithography steps. Hydrophobic CYTOP coffee stripes, made by inkjet-printing and plasma-treating processes, were utilized to define the channel area of TFTs with channel lengths as short as ∼3.5 μm by dewetting the inks of the source/drain (S/D) precursors. Furthermore, by introduction of an ultrathin layer of PVA to modify the S/D surfaces, the spreading of precursor ink of the InOx semiconductor layer was well-controlled. The inkjet-printed short-channel TFTs exhibited a maximum mobility of 4.9 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) and an on/off ratio of larger than 10(9). This approach of fabricating short-channel TFTs by inkjet printing will promote the large-area fabrication of short-channel TFTs in a cost-effective manner.

Fully inkjet-printed microwave passive electronics

KAUST Repository

McKerricher, Garret

2017-01-30

Fully inkjet-printed three-dimensional (3D) objects with integrated metal provide exciting possibilities for on-demand fabrication of radio frequency electronics such as inductors, capacitors, and filters. To date, there have been several reports of printed radio frequency components metallized via the use of plating solutions, sputtering, and low-conductivity pastes. These metallization techniques require rather complex fabrication, and do not provide an easily integrated or versatile process. This work utilizes a novel silver ink cured with a low-cost infrared lamp at only 80 °C, and achieves a high conductivity of 1×107 S m−1. By inkjet printing the infrared-cured silver together with a commercial 3D inkjet ultraviolet-cured acrylic dielectric, a multilayer process is demonstrated. By using a smoothing technique, both the conductive ink and dielectric provide surface roughness values of <500 nm. A radio frequency inductor and capacitor exhibit state-of-the-art quality factors of 8 and 20, respectively, and match well with electromagnetic simulations. These components are implemented in a lumped element radio frequency filter with an impressive insertion loss of 0.8 dB at 1 GHz, proving the utility of the process for sensitive radio frequency applications.

Fully inkjet-printed microwave passive electronics

KAUST Repository

McKerricher, Garret; Vaseem, Mohammad; Shamim, Atif

2017-01-01

Fully inkjet-printed three-dimensional (3D) objects with integrated metal provide exciting possibilities for on-demand fabrication of radio frequency electronics such as inductors, capacitors, and filters. To date, there have been several reports of printed radio frequency components metallized via the use of plating solutions, sputtering, and low-conductivity pastes. These metallization techniques require rather complex fabrication, and do not provide an easily integrated or versatile process. This work utilizes a novel silver ink cured with a low-cost infrared lamp at only 80 °C, and achieves a high conductivity of 1×107 S m−1. By inkjet printing the infrared-cured silver together with a commercial 3D inkjet ultraviolet-cured acrylic dielectric, a multilayer process is demonstrated. By using a smoothing technique, both the conductive ink and dielectric provide surface roughness values of <500 nm. A radio frequency inductor and capacitor exhibit state-of-the-art quality factors of 8 and 20, respectively, and match well with electromagnetic simulations. These components are implemented in a lumped element radio frequency filter with an impressive insertion loss of 0.8 dB at 1 GHz, proving the utility of the process for sensitive radio frequency applications.

Inkjet-Printed Ultra Wide Band Fractal Antennas

KAUST Repository

Maza, Armando Rodriguez

2012-05-01

In this work, Paper-based inkjet-printed Ultra-wide band (UWB) fractal antennas are presented. Three new designs, a combined UWB fractal monopole based on the fourth order Koch Snowflake fractal which utilizes a Sierpinski Gasket fractal for ink reduction, a Cantor-based fractal antenna which performs a larger bandwidth compared to previously published UWB Cantor fractal monopole antenna, and a 3D loop fractal antenna which attains miniaturization, impedance matching and multiband characteristics. It is shown that fractals prove to be a successful method of reducing fabrication cost in inkjet printed antennas while retaining or enhancing printed antenna performance.

Aqueous metal–organic solutions for YSZ thin film inkjet deposition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gadea, Christophe; Hanniet, Q.; Lesch, A.

2017-01-01

Inkjet printing of 8% Y2O3-stabilized ZrO2 (YSZ) thin films is achieved by designing a novel water-based reactive ink for Drop-on-Demand (DoD) inkjet printing. The ink formulation is based on a novel chemical strategy that consists of a combination of metal oxide precursors (zirconium alkoxide...

Inkjet printing of UHF antennas on corrugated cardboards for packaging applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sowade, Enrico, E-mail: enrico.sowade@mb.tu-chemnitz.de [Digital Printing and Imaging Technology, Technische Universität Chemnitz, Chemnitz (Germany); Göthel, Frank [Digital Printing and Imaging Technology, Technische Universität Chemnitz, Chemnitz (Germany); Zichner, Ralf [Department Printed Functionalities, Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano Systems (ENAS), Chemnitz (Germany); Baumann, Reinhard R. [Digital Printing and Imaging Technology, Technische Universität Chemnitz, Chemnitz (Germany); Department Printed Functionalities, Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano Systems (ENAS), Chemnitz (Germany)

2015-03-30

Highlights: • Inkjet printing of UHF antennas on cardboard substrates. • Development of primer layer to compensate the absorptiveness of the cardboard and the rough surface. • Manufacturing of UHF antennas in a fully digital manner for packaging applications. - Abstract: In this study, a method based on inkjet printing has been established to develop UHF antennas on a corrugated cardboard for packaging applications. The use of such a standardized, paper-based packaging substrate as material for printing electronics is challenging in terms of its high surface roughness and high ink absorption rate, especially when depositing very thin films with inkjet printing technology. However, we could obtain well-defined silver layers on the cardboard substrates due to a primer layer approach. The primer layer is based on a UV-curable ink formulation and deposited as well as the silver ink with inkjet printing technology. Industrial relevant printheads were chosen for the deposition of the materials. The usage of inkjet printing allows highest flexibility in terms of pattern design. The primer layer was proven to optimize the surface characteristics of the substrate, mainly reducing the surface roughness and water absorptiveness. Thanks to the primer layer approach, ultra-high-frequency (UHF) radio-frequency identification (RFID) antennas were deposited by inkjet printing on the corrugated cardboards. Along with the characterization and interpretation of electrical properties of the established conductive antenna patterns, the performance of the printed antennas were analyzed in detail by measuring the scattering parameter S{sub 11} and the antenna gain.

In situ synthesis of nanoparticles on substrates by inkjet printing

KAUST Repository

Abulikemu, Mutalifu; Jabbour, Ghassan

2014-01-01

Nanoparticles may be formed on a substrate by mixing precursor solutions deposited by an inkjet printer. A first solution is deposited on a substrate from a first inkjet print cartridge. Then, a second solution is deposited on the substrate from a second inkjet print cartridge. The solutions may be printed in an array of droplets on the substrate. Nanoparticles form when droplets of the first solution overlap with droplets of the second solution. In one example, the nanoparticles may be gold nanoparticles formed from mixing a first solution of 1,2-dichlorobenzene (DCB) and oleylamine and a second solution of gold chloride trihydrite and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). The nanoparticles may be incorporated into optoelectronic devices.

In situ synthesis of nanoparticles on substrates by inkjet printing

KAUST Repository

Abulikemu, Mutalifu

2014-12-23

Nanoparticles may be formed on a substrate by mixing precursor solutions deposited by an inkjet printer. A first solution is deposited on a substrate from a first inkjet print cartridge. Then, a second solution is deposited on the substrate from a second inkjet print cartridge. The solutions may be printed in an array of droplets on the substrate. Nanoparticles form when droplets of the first solution overlap with droplets of the second solution. In one example, the nanoparticles may be gold nanoparticles formed from mixing a first solution of 1,2-dichlorobenzene (DCB) and oleylamine and a second solution of gold chloride trihydrite and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). The nanoparticles may be incorporated into optoelectronic devices.

Inkjet-Printed Organic Transistors Based on Organic Semiconductor/Insulating Polymer Blends

Science.gov (United States)

Kwon, Yoon-Jung; Park, Yeong Don; Lee, Wi Hyoung

2016-01-01

Recent advances in inkjet-printed organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) based on organic semiconductor/insulating polymer blends are reviewed in this article. Organic semiconductor/insulating polymer blends are attractive ink candidates for enhancing the jetting properties, inducing uniform film morphologies, and/or controlling crystallization behaviors of organic semiconductors. Representative studies using soluble acene/insulating polymer blends as an inkjet-printed active layer in OFETs are introduced with special attention paid to the phase separation characteristics of such blended films. In addition, inkjet-printed semiconducting/insulating polymer blends for fabricating high performance printed OFETs are reviewed. PMID:28773772

The maize glossy13 gene, cloned via BSR-Seq and Seq-walking encodes a putative ABC transporter required for the normal accumulation of epicuticular waxes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Li

Full Text Available Aerial plant surfaces are covered by epicuticular waxes that among other purposes serve to control water loss. Maize glossy mutants originally identified by their "glossy" phenotypes exhibit alterations in the accumulation of epicuticular waxes. By combining data from a BSR-Seq experiment and the newly developed Seq-Walking technology, GRMZM2G118243 was identified as a strong candidate for being the glossy13 gene. The finding that multiple EMS-induced alleles contain premature stop codons in GRMZM2G118243, and the one knockout allele of gl13, validates the hypothesis that gene GRMZM2G118243 is gl13. Consistent with this, GRMZM2G118243 is an ortholog of AtABCG32 (Arabidopsis thaliana, HvABCG31 (barley and OsABCG31 (rice, which encode ABCG subfamily transporters involved in the trans-membrane transport of various secondary metabolites. We therefore hypothesize that gl13 is involved in the transport of epicuticular waxes onto the surfaces of seedling leaves.

Inkjet printing the three organic functional layers of two-colored organic light emitting diodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coenen, Michiel J.J.; Slaats, Thijs M.W.L.; Eggenhuisen, Tamara M.; Groen, Pim

2015-01-01

Inkjet printing allows for the roll-2-roll fabrication of organic electronic devices at an industrial scale. In this paper we demonstrate the fabrication of two-colored organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) in which three adjacent organic device layers were inkjet printed from halogen free inks. The resulting devices demonstrate the possibilities offered by this technique for the fabrication of OLEDs for signage and personalized electronics. - Highlights: • Two-colored organic light emitting diodes with 3 inkjet printed device layers were fabricated. • All materials were printed from halogen free inks. • Inkjet printing of emissive materials is suitable for signage applications

Micropatterning of a stretchable conductive polymer using inkjet printing and agarose stamping

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Thomas Steen; Hassager, Ole; Larsen, Niels Bent

2007-01-01

A highly conducting stretchable polymer material has been patterned using additive inkjet printing and by subtractive agarose stamping of a deactivation agent (hypochlorite). The material consisted of elastomeric polyurethane combined in an interpenetrating network with a conductive polymer, poly(3....... Inkjet printing of the material was only possible if a short-chain polyurethane was used as elastomer to overcome strain hardening at the neck of the droplets produced for printing. Reproducible line widths down to 200 μm could be achieved by inkjet printing. Both methods were used to fabricate test...

NON-AQUEOUS PIGMENTED INKJET INKS

NARCIS (Netherlands)

DEROOVER, GEERT; Bernaerts, Katrien; HOOGMARTENS, IVAN

2010-01-01

A non-aqueous inkjet ink includes a benzimidazolone pigment and a polymeric dispersant according to Formula (I): wherein, T represents hydrogen or a polymerization terminating group; Z represents the residue of polyethyleneimine having a number-average molecular weight of at least 100; A represents

A Fully Inkjet Printed 3D Honeycomb Inspired Patch Antenna

KAUST Repository

McKerricher, Garret

2015-07-16

The ability to inkjet print three-dimensional objects with integrated conductive metal provides many opportunities for fabrication of radio frequency electronics and electronics in general. Both a plastic material and silver conductor are deposited by inkjet printing in this work. This is the first demonstration of a fully 3D Multijet printing process with integrated polymer and metal. A 2.4 GHz patch antenna is successfully fabricated with good performance proving the viability of the process. The inkjet printed plastic surface is very smooth, with less than 100 nm root mean square roughness. The printed silver nanoparticles are laser sintered to achieve adequate conductivity of 1e6 S/m while keeping the process below 80oC and avoiding damage to the polymer. The antenna is designed with a honeycomb substrate which minimizes material consumption. This reduces the weight, dielectric constant and dielectric loss which are all around beneficial. The antenna is entirely inkjet printed including the ground plane conductor and achieves an impressive 81% efficiency. The honeycomb substrate weighs twenty times less than a solid substrate. For comparison the honeycomb antenna provides an efficiency nearly 15% greater than a similarly fabricated antenna with a solid substrate.

Degradation of inkjet ink by greensand and ultrasonic sonification

OpenAIRE

Mirela Rožić; Marina Vukoje; Kristinka Vinković; Nives Galić; Mirela Jukić

2017-01-01

The study describes the degradation of inkjet ink at low frequency ultrasound (US) and greensand to compare their reactivity. Environmental sonochemistry is a rapidly growing area and an example of the advanced oxidation process (AOP) that deals with the destruction of organic species in aqueous solutions. Greensand is a granular material coated with a thin layer of manganese dioxide (MnO2) which is among the strongest natural oxidants. In our study magenta inkjet water-based printing ink was...

An inkjet-printed UWB antenna on paper substrate utilizing a novel fractal matching network

KAUST Repository

Cook, Benjamin Stassen

2012-07-01

In this work, the smallest reported inkjet-printed UWB antenna is proposed that utilizes a fractal matching network to increase the performance of a UWB microstrip monopole. The antenna is inkjet-printed on a paper substrate to demonstrate the ability to produce small and low-cost UWB antennas with inkjet-printing technology which can enable compact, low-cost, and environmentally friendly wireless sensor network. © 2012 IEEE.

Optimization-based feedforward control for a drop-on-demand inkjet printer

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Khalate, A.; Bombois, X.; Babuska, R.; Wijshoff, H.M.A.; Waarsing, R.

2010-01-01

The printing quality delivered by a Drop-on-Demand (DoD) inkjet printhead is limited due to operational issues such as residual oscillations in the ink channel and the cross-talk between the ink channels. The maximal jetting frequency of a DoD inkjet printhead can be increased by quickly damping the

Inkjet Printing of Paper-Based Wideband and High Gain Antennas

KAUST Repository

Cook, Benjamin

2011-01-01

For the first time ever, inkjet-printed antennas are demonstrated that operate over the entire UWB band and demonstrate gains up to 8dB. This work also presents the first fractal-based inkjet-printed antennas with enhanced bandwidth and reduced production costs, and a novel slow wave log periodic dipole array which shows minimizations of 20% in width over conventional log periodic antennas.

Non-aqueous pigmented inkjet inks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

HOOGMARTENS, IVAN; Bernaerts, Katrien; DEROOVER, GEERT

2008-01-01

A non-aqueous inkjet ink comprising C.I. Pigment Yellow 150 and a polymeric dispersant according to Formula (I): wherein, T represents hydrogen or a polymerization terminating group; Z represents the residue of polyethyleneimine having a number-average molecular weight of at least 100; A represents

Inkjet-printing of indium tin oxide (ITO) films for transparent conducting electrodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, Myun-sung; Jeong, Bong-yong; Moon, Jooho; Chun, Sang-Ki; Kim, Jihoon

2011-01-01

Highlights: → Inkjet printing of ITO films. → Ag-grid was inkjet-printed in between two ITO layers in order to improve the electrical property. → Ag-grid inserted ITO films with 2 mm Ag-grid pitch showed the sheet resistance less than 3.4 Ω/sq and the transmittance higher than 82%. - Abstract: Indium-tin-oxide (ITO) films have been prepared by inkjet-printing using ITO nanoparticle inks. The electrical and optical properties of the ITO films were investigated in order to understand the effects of annealing temperatures under microwave. The decrease in the sheet resistance and resistivity of the inkjet-printed ITO films was observed as the annealing temperature increases. The film annealed at 400 deg. C showed the sheet resistance of 517 Ω/sq with the film thickness of ∼580 nm. The optical transmittance of the films remained constant regardless of their annealing temperatures. In order to further reduce the sheet resistance of the films, Ag-grid was printed in between two layers of inkjet-printed ITO. With 3 mm Ag-grid line-to-line pitch, the Ag-grid inserted ITO film has the sheet resistance of 3.4 Ω/sq and the transmittance of 84% after annealing at 200 deg. C under microwave.

Flexible electroluminescent device with inkjet-printed carbon nanotube electrodes

Science.gov (United States)

Azoubel, Suzanna; Shemesh, Shay; Magdassi, Shlomo

2012-08-01

Carbon nanotube (CNTs) inks may provide an effective route for producing flexible electronic devices by digital printing. In this paper we report on the formulation of highly concentrated aqueous CNT inks and demonstrate the fabrication of flexible electroluminescent (EL) devices by inkjet printing combined with wet coating. We also report, for the first time, on the formation of flexible EL devices in which all the electrodes are formed by inkjet printing of low-cost multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Several flexible EL devices were fabricated by using different materials for the production of back and counter electrodes: ITO/MWCNT and MWCNT/MWCNT. Transparent electrodes were obtained either by coating a thin layer of the CNTs or by inkjet printing a grid which is composed of empty cells surrounded by MWCNTs. It was found that the conductivity and transparency of the electrodes are mainly controlled by the MWCNT film thickness, and that the dominant factor in the luminance intensity is the transparency of the electrode.

Inkjet Printing of Functional Materials for Optical and Photonic Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Alamán, Jorge; Alicante, Raquel; Peña, Jose Ignacio; Sánchez-Somolinos, Carlos

2016-01-01

Inkjet printing, traditionally used in graphics, has been widely investigated as a valuable tool in the preparation of functional surfaces and devices. This review focuses on the use of inkjet printing technology for the manufacturing of different optical elements and photonic devices. The presented overview mainly surveys work done in the fabrication of micro-optical components such as microlenses, waveguides and integrated lasers; the manufacturing of large area light emitting diodes displays, liquid crystal displays and solar cells; as well as the preparation of liquid crystal and colloidal crystal based photonic devices working as lasers or optical sensors. Special emphasis is placed on reviewing the materials employed as well as in the relevance of inkjet in the manufacturing of the different devices showing in each of the revised technologies, main achievements, applications and challenges. PMID:28774032

Inkjet Printing of Functional Materials for Optical and Photonic Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jorge Alamán

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Inkjet printing, traditionally used in graphics, has been widely investigated as a valuable tool in the preparation of functional surfaces and devices. This review focuses on the use of inkjet printing technology for the manufacturing of different optical elements and photonic devices. The presented overview mainly surveys work done in the fabrication of micro-optical components such as microlenses, waveguides and integrated lasers; the manufacturing of large area light emitting diodes displays, liquid crystal displays and solar cells; as well as the preparation of liquid crystal and colloidal crystal based photonic devices working as lasers or optical sensors. Special emphasis is placed on reviewing the materials employed as well as in the relevance of inkjet in the manufacturing of the different devices showing in each of the revised technologies, main achievements, applications and challenges.

Crystal morphology variation in inkjet-printed organic materials

Science.gov (United States)

Ihnen, Andrew C.; Petrock, Anne M.; Chou, Tsengming; Samuels, Phillip J.; Fuchs, Brian E.; Lee, Woo Y.

2011-11-01

The recent commercialization of piezoelectric-based drop-on-demand inkjet printers provides an additive processing platform for producing and micropatterning organic crystal structures. We report an inkjet printing approach where macro- and nano-scale energetic composites composed of cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX) crystals dispersed in a cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) matrix are produced by direct phase transformation from organic solvent-based all-liquid inks. The characterization of printed composites illustrates distinct morphological changes dependent on ink deposition parameters. When 10 pL ink droplets rapidly formed a liquid pool, a coffee ring structure containing dendritic RDX crystals was produced. By increasing the substrate temperature, and consequently the evaporation rate of the pooled ink, the coffee ring structure was mitigated and shorter dendrites from up to ∼1 to 0.2 mm with closer arm spacing from ∼15 to 1 μm were produced. When the nucleation and growth of RDX and CAB were confined within the evaporating droplets, a granular structure containing nanoscale RDX crystals was produced. The results suggest that evaporation rate and microfluidic droplet confinement can effectively be used to tailor the morphology of inkjet-printed energetic composites.

Control of Evaporation Behavior of an Inkjet-Printed Dielectric Layer Using a Mixed-Solvent System

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Hak Soon; Kang, Byung Ju; Oh, Je Hoon

2016-01-01

In this study, the evaporation behavior and the resulting morphology of inkjet-printed dielectric layers were controlled using a mixed-solvent system to fabricate uniform poly-4-vinylphenol (PVP) dielectric layers without any pinholes. The mixed-solvent system consisted of two different organic solvents: 1-hexanol and ethanol. The effects of inkjet-printing variables such as overlap condition, substrate temperature, and different printing sequences (continuous and interlacing printing methods) on the inkjet-printed dielectric layer were also investigated. Increasing volume fraction of ethanol (VFE) is likely to reduce the evaporation rate gradient and the drying time of the inkjet-printed dielectric layer; this diminishes the coffee stain effect and thereby improves the uniformity of the inkjet-printed dielectric layer. However, the coffee stain effect becomes more severe with an increase in the substrate temperature due to the enhanced outward convective flow. The overlap condition has little effect on the evaporation behavior of the printed dielectric layer. In addition, the interlacing printing method results in either a stronger coffee stain effect or wavy structures of the dielectric layers depending on the VFE of the PVP solution. All-inkjet-printed capacitors without electrical short circuiting can be successfully fabricated using the optimized PVP solution (VFE = 0.6); this indicates that the mixed-solvent system is expected to play an important role in the fabrication of high-quality inkjet-printed dielectric layers in various printed electronics applications.

Inkjet printed Cu(In,Ga)S2 nanoparticles for low-cost solar cells

KAUST Repository

Barbe, Jeremy; Eid, Jessica; Ahlswede, Erik; Spiering, Stefanie; Powalla, Michael; Agrawal, Rakesh; Del Gobbo, Silvano

2016-01-01

Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGSe) thin film solar cells were fabricated by direct inkjet printing of Cu(In,Ga)S2 (CIGS) nanoparticles followed by rapid thermal annealing under selenium vapor. Inkjet printing is a low-cost, low-waste, and flexible patterning

Fully inkjet printed wide band cantor fractal antenna for RF energy harvesting application

KAUST Repository

Bakytbekov, Azamat; Maza, Armando Rodriguez; Nafe, Mahmoud; Shamim, Atif

2017-01-01

and an omnidirectional radiation pattern. In this work, a novel Cantor fractal antenna has been designed which fulfills the above mentioned performance requirements. Antenna has been realized through a combination of 3D inkjet printing of plastic substrate and 2D inkjet

A 24 GHz CMOS oscillator transmitter with an inkjet printed on-chip antenna

KAUST Repository

Ghaffar, Farhan A.; Yang, Shuai; Cheema, Hammad M.; Shamim, Atif

2016-01-01

implemented off chip or the designers work with the inefficient passives. This problem can be alleviated by using inkjet printing as a post process on CMOS chip. In this work, we demonstrate inkjet printing of a patterned polymer (SU8) layer on a 24 GHz

Reactive inkjet printing and functional inks : a versatile route to new programmed materials

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Delaney, J.T.

2010-01-01

Starting as an ink dispensing tool for documents and images, inkjet printing has emerged as an important instrument for delivering reactive fluids, into a means for creating new, programmed materials. Inkjet is a processing technology with some very unique capabilities, which allows the handling of

All Inkjet-Printed Amperometric Multiplexed Biosensors Based on Nanostructured Conductive Hydrogel Electrodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Lanlan; Pan, Lijia; Ma, Zhong; Yan, Ke; Cheng, Wen; Shi, Yi; Yu, Guihua

2018-02-12

Multiplexing, one of the main trends in biosensors, aims to detect several analytes simultaneously by integrating miniature sensors on a chip. However, precisely depositing electrode materials and selective enzymes on distinct microelectrode arrays remains an obstacle to massively produced multiplexed sensors. Here, we report on a "drop-on-demand" inkjet printing process to fabricate multiplexed biosensors based on nanostructured conductive hydrogels in which the electrode material and several kinds of enzymes were printed on the electrode arrays one by one by employing a multinozzle inkjet system. The whole inkjet printing process can be finished within three rounds of printing and only one round of alignment. For a page of sensor arrays containing 96 working electrodes, the printing process took merely ∼5 min. The multiplexed assays can detect glucose, lactate, and triglycerides in real time with good selectivity and high sensitivity, and the results in phosphate buffer solutions and calibration serum samples are comparable. The inkjet printing process exhibited advantages of high efficiency and accuracy, which opens substantial possibilities for massive fabrication of integrated multiplexed biosensors for human health monitoring.

Direct Fabrication of Inkjet-Printed Dielectric Film for Metal-Insulator-Metal Capacitors

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Cheng-Lin; Kao, Hsuan-ling; Wu, Yung-Hsien; Chang, Li-Chun; Cheng, Chun-Hu

2018-01-01

In this study, an inkjet-printed dielectric film that used a polymer-based SU-8 ink was fabricated for use in a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor. Thermal treatment of the inkjet-printed SU-8 polymer film affected its surface morphology, chemical structure, and surface wettability. A 20-min soft-bake at 60°C was applied to eliminate inkjet-printed bubbles and ripples. The ultraviolet-exposed SU-8 polymer film was crosslinked at temperatures between 120°C and 220°C and became disordered at 270°C, demonstrated using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. A maximum SU-8 polymer film hard-bake temperature of 120°C was identified, and a printing process was subsequently employed because the appropriate water contact angle of the printed film was 79°. Under the appropriate inkjet printing conditions, the two-transmission-line method was used to extract the dielectric and electrical properties of the SU-8 polymer film, and the electrical behavior of the fabricated MIM capacitor was also characterized.

Inkjet printing for biosensor fabrication: combining chemistry and technology for advanced manufacturing.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jia; Rossignol, Fabrice; Macdonald, Joanne

2015-06-21

Inkjet printing is emerging at the forefront of biosensor fabrication technologies. Parallel advances in both ink chemistry and printers have led to a biosensor manufacturing approach that is simple, rapid, flexible, high resolution, low cost, efficient for mass production, and extends the capabilities of devices beyond other manufacturing technologies. Here we review for the first time the factors behind successful inkjet biosensor fabrication, including printers, inks, patterning methods, and matrix types. We discuss technical considerations that are important when moving beyond theoretical knowledge to practical implementation. We also highlight significant advances in biosensor functionality that have been realised through inkjet printing. Finally, we consider future possibilities for biosensors enabled by this novel combination of chemistry and technology.

Inkjet printing of polyurethane colloidal suspensions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berg, van den A.M.J.; Smith, P.J.; Perelaer, J.; Schrof, W.; Koltzenburg, S.; Schubert, U.S.

2007-01-01

An aqueous 40 wt% dispersion of polyurethane has been successfully printed at room temperature using a piezoelectric inkjet printer. Simple layered structures, as well as dots, were made and subsequently analyzed using white-light interferometry. A single layer was found to have a structure height

Inkjet printing technology for OPV applications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ren, M.; Sweelssen, J.; Grossiord, N.; Gorter, H.; Eggenhuisen, T.M.; Andriessen, H.A.J.M.

2012-01-01

Large-scale production of organic photovoltaics (OPVs) at low cost is, still, a future concept thought to promote the market share of solar energy. Working towards the roll-to-roll production of OPVs, different compatible deposition techniques are investigated. Inkjet printing is a promising

Adhesion characterization of inkjet printed tracks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sridhar, Ashok; Akkerman, Remko; van Dijk, D.J.

2007-01-01

The robustness and service life of inkjet printed electronic circuit structures are highly influenced by the state of the interface between these structures and the substrate. In the case of polymeric substrate materials, surface modification is necessary to realise a favourable interface, as these

Tailoring controlled-release oral dosage forms by combining inkjet and flexographic printing techniques

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Genina, Natalja; Fors, Daniela; Vakili, Hossein

2012-01-01

substrates: A (uncoated woodfree paper), B (triple-coated inkjet paper) and C (double-coated sheet fed offset paper) were used as porous model carriers for drug delivery. Active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) containing solutions were printed onto 1 cm × 1 cm substrate areas using an inkjet printer...

Reactive Inkjet Printing of Biocompatible Enzyme Powered Silk Micro-Rockets.

Science.gov (United States)

Gregory, David A; Zhang, Yu; Smith, Patrick J; Zhao, Xiubo; Ebbens, Stephen J

2016-08-01

Inkjet-printed enzyme-powered silk-based micro-rockets are able to undergo autonomous motion in a vast variety of fluidic environments including complex media such as human serum. By means of digital inkjet printing it is possible to alter the catalyst distribution simply and generate varying trajectory behavior of these micro-rockets. Made of silk scaffolds containing enzymes these micro-rockets are highly biocompatible and non-biofouling. © 2016 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

An inkjet-printed UWB antenna on paper substrate utilizing a novel fractal matching network

KAUST Repository

Cook, Benjamin Stassen; Shamim, Atif

2012-01-01

In this work, the smallest reported inkjet-printed UWB antenna is proposed that utilizes a fractal matching network to increase the performance of a UWB microstrip monopole. The antenna is inkjet-printed on a paper substrate to demonstrate

Metal nanoparticle direct inkjet printing for low-temperature 3D micro metal structure fabrication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ko, Seung Hwan; Nam, Koo Hyun; Chung, Jaewon; Hotz, Nico; Grigoropoulos, Costas P

2010-01-01

Inkjet printing of functional materials is a key technology toward ultra-low-cost, large-area electronics. We demonstrate low-temperature 3D micro metal structure fabrication by direct inkjet printing of metal nanoparticles (NPs) as a versatile, direct 3D metal structuring approach representing an alternative to conventional vacuum deposition and photolithographic methods. Metal NP ink was inkjet-printed to exploit the large melting temperature drop of the nanomaterial and the ease of the NP ink formulation. Parametric studies on the basic conditions for stable 3D inkjet printing of NP ink were carried out. Furthermore, diverse 3D metal microstructures, including micro metal pillar arrays, helices, zigzag and micro bridges were demonstrated and electrical characterization was performed. Since the process requires low temperature, it carries substantial potential for fabrication of electronics on a plastic substrate

The fabrication and characterization of inkjet-printed polyaniline nanoparticle films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morrin, Aoife; Ngamna, Orawan; O'Malley, Eimer; Kent, Nigel; Moulton, Simon E.; Wallace, Gordon G.; Smyth, Malcolm R.; Killard, Anthony J.

2008-01-01

This paper reports on the fabrication and characterization of electrodes modified with conducting polymer nanoparticle films, produced via inkjet printing. The polyaniline nanoparticle formulations were deposited via a desktop inkjet printer onto screen-printed carbon-paste electrodes (SPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and gold-PET and their morphology studied at a range of length scales using profilometry, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The deposited films were found to form continuous polymer films depending upon film thickness, which was in turn dependent on the number of prints performed. The inkjet-printed films exhibited a smooth morphology on the SPEs at the micro-dimensional scale, as a result of the aggradation and coalescing of the nanoparticles upon deposition. The resulting modified electrodes were both conductive and electroactive, possessing good reversible polyaniline electrochemistry. Such a combination of materials and processing offers the potential of producing a range of low cost, solid state devices such as sensors, actuators and electrochromic devices

Inkjet-Printed Small-Molecule Organic Light-Emitting Diodes: Halogen-Free Inks, Printing Optimization, and Large-Area Patterning.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Lu; Yang, Lei; Yu, Mengjie; Jiang, Yi; Liu, Cheng-Fang; Lai, Wen-Yong; Huang, Wei

2017-11-22

Manufacturing small-molecule organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) via inkjet printing is rather attractive for realizing high-efficiency and long-life-span devices, yet it is challenging. In this paper, we present our efforts on systematical investigation and optimization of the ink properties and the printing process to enable facile inkjet printing of conjugated light-emitting small molecules. Various factors on influencing the inkjet-printed film quality during the droplet generation, the ink spreading on the substrates, and its solidification processes have been systematically investigated and optimized. Consequently, halogen-free inks have been developed and large-area patterning inkjet printing on flexible substrates with efficient blue emission has been successfully demonstrated. Moreover, OLEDs manufactured by inkjet printing the light-emitting small molecules manifested superior performance as compared with their corresponding spin-cast counterparts.

Series Resistance Analysis of Passivated Emitter Rear Contact Cells Patterned Using Inkjet Printing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martha A. T. Lenio

2012-01-01

Full Text Available For higher-efficiency solar cell structures, such as the Passivated Emitter Rear Contact (PERC cells, to be fabricated in a manufacturing environment, potentially low-cost techniques such as inkjet printing and metal plating are desirable. A common problem that is experienced when fabricating PERC cells is low fill factors due to high series resistance. This paper identifies and attempts to quantify sources of series resistance in inkjet-patterned PERC cells that employ electroless or light-induced nickel-plating techniques followed by copper light-induced plating. Photoluminescence imaging is used to determine locations of series resistance losses in these inkjet-patterned and plated PERC cells.

Comparison of barium titanate thin films prepared by inkjet printing and spin coating

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jelena Vukmirović

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In this paper, barium titanate films were prepared by different deposition techniques (spin coating, office Epson inkjet printer and commercial Dimatix inkjet printer. As inkjet technique requires special rheological properties of inks the first part of the study deals with the preparation of inks, whereas the second part examines and compares structural characteristics of the deposited films. Inks were synthesized by sol-gel method and parameters such as viscosity, particle size and surface tension were measured. Deposited films were examined by optical and scanning electron microscopy, XRD analysis and Raman spectroscopy. The findings consider advantages and disadvantages of the particular deposition techniques.

Properties and Printability of Inkjet and Screen-Printed Silver Patterns for RFID Antennas

Science.gov (United States)

Salmerón, José F.; Molina-Lopez, Francisco; Briand, Danick; Ruan, Jason J.; Rivadeneyra, Almudena; Carvajal, Miguel A.; Capitán-Vallvey, L. F.; de Rooij, Nico F.; Palma, Alberto J.

2014-02-01

We report the modeling, and geometrical and electrical characterization, of inkjet and screen-printed patterns on different polymeric substrates for use as antennas in radio-frequency identification (RFID) applications. We compared the physical and electrical characteristics of two silver nanoparticle-based commercial inkjet-printable inks and one screen-printable silver paste, when deposited on polyimide (PI), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polyetherimide (PEI) substrates. First, the thickness of the inkjet-printed patterns was predicted by use of an analytical model based on printing conditions and ink composition. The predicted thickness was confirmed experimentally, and geometrical characterization of the lines was completed by measuring the root-mean-square roughness of the patterns. Second, direct-current electrical characterization was performed to identify the printing conditions yielding the lowest resistivity and sheet resistance. The minimum resistivity for the inkjet-printing method was 8.6 ± 0.8 μΩ cm, obtained by printing four stacked layers of one of the commercial inks on PEI, whereas minimum resistivity of 44 ± 7 μΩ cm and 39 ± 4 μΩ cm were obtained for a single layer of screen-printed ink on polyimide (PI) with 140 threads/cm mesh and 90 threads/cm mesh, respectively. In every case, these minimum values of resistivity were obtained for the largest tested thickness. Coplanar waveguide transmission lines were then designed and characterized to analyze the radio-frequency (RF) performance of the printed patterns; minimum transmission losses of 0.0022 ± 0.0012 dB/mm and 0.0016 ± 0.0012 dB/mm measured at 13.56 MHz, in the high-frequency (HF) band, were achieved by inkjet printing on PEI and screen printing on PI, respectively. At 868 MHz, in the ultra-high-frequency band, the minimum values of transmission loss were 0.0130 ± 0.0014 dB/mm for inkjet printing on PEI and 0.0100 ± 0.0014 dB/mm for screen printing on PI. Although the

Inkjet Printed Radio Frequency Passive Components

KAUST Repository

McKerricher, Garret

2015-01-01

-resonant frequencies around 1GHz. These fully printed devices have quality factors less than 10. Finally, 3D inkjet-printed UV-cured material is utilized with a novel silver organo-complex ink at 80oC providing conductivity of 1x107 S/m. A lumped element filter

Polymer light-emitting diodes with thermal inkjet printed poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrenesulfonate as transparent anode

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chou, W.-Y.; Lin, S.-T.; Cheng, H.-L.; Chang, M.-H.; Guo, H.-R.; Wen, T.-C.; Mai, Y.-S.; Horng, J.-B.; Kuo, C.-W.; Tang, F.-C.; Liao, C.-C.; Chiu, C.-L.

2007-01-01

Conjugated poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) films, prepared by inkjet-printing and spin-coating methods, have been studied using atomic force microscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, photoelectron spectroscopy, and four-point probe conductivity measurements. Electrical conductivity of the inkjet-printed film was enhanced by a factor of around 10 when compared to a spin-coating film. The improved conductivity was attributed to longer effective conjugation length of PEDOT chains in inkjet-printing PEDOT:PSS films as suggested by their micro-Raman spectroscopy. PEDOT:PSS films formed by the inkjet-printing method are appropriate for use as an anode for simplification of the fabrication process of polymer light-emitting diodes whose performance is about 1.2 cd/A

Pentacene-Based Thin Film Transistor with Inkjet-Printed Nanocomposite High-K Dielectrics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chao-Te Liu

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The nanocomposite gate insulating film of a pentacene-based thin film transistor was deposited by inkjet printing. In this study, utilizing the pearl miller to crumble the agglomerations and the dispersant to well stabilize the dispersion of nano-TiO2 particles in the polymer matrix of the ink increases the dose concentration for pico-jetting, which could be as the gate dielectric film made by inkjet printing without the photography process. Finally, we realized top contact pentacene-TFTs and successfully accomplished the purpose of directly patternability and increase the performance of the device based on the nanocomposite by inkjet printing. These devices exhibited p-channel TFT characteristics with a high field-effect mobility (a saturation mobility of ̃0.58 cm2 V−1 s−1, a large current ratio (>103 and a low operation voltage (<6 V. Furthermore, we accorded the deposited mechanisms which caused the interface difference between of inkjet printing and spin coating. And we used XRD, SEM, Raman spectroscopy to help us analyze the transfer characteristics of pentacene films and the performance of OTFTs.

First drop dissimilarity in drop-on-demand inkjet devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Famili, Amin; Palkar, Saurabh A.; Baldy, William J. Jr.

2011-01-01

As inkjet printing technology is increasingly applied in a broader array of applications, careful characterization of its method of use is critical due to its inherent sensitivity. A common operational mode in inkjet technology known as drop-on-demand ejection is used as a way to deliver a controlled quantity of material to a precise location on a target. This method of operation allows ejection of individual or a sequence (burst) of drops based on a timed trigger event. This work presents an examination of sequences of drops as they are ejected, indicating a number of phenomena that must be considered when designing a drop-on-demand inkjet system. These phenomena appear to be driven by differences between the first ejected drop in a burst and those that follow it and result in a break-down of the linear relationship expected between driving amplitude and drop mass. This first drop, as quantified by high-speed videography and subsequent image analysis, can be different in morphology, trajectory, velocity, and volume from subsequent drops within a burst. These findings were confirmed orthogonally by both volume and mass measurement techniques which allowed quantitation down to single drops.

3D inkjet printed flexible and wearable antenna systems

KAUST Repository

Shamim, Atif

2017-12-22

With the advent of wearable sensors and internet of things (IoT), there is a new focus on electronics which can be bent so that they can be worn or mounted on non-planar objects. Moreover, there is a requirement that these electronics become extremely low cost, to the extent that they become disposable. The flexible and low cost aspects can be addressed by adapting additive manufacturing technologies such as inkjet printing and 3D printing. This paper presents inkjet printing as an emerging new technique to realize low cost, flexible and wearable antenna systems. The ability of inkjet printing to realize electronics on unconventional mediums such as plastics, papers, and textiles has opened up a plethora of new applications. A variety of antennas such as wide-band, multiband, and wearable, etc, which have been realized through additive manufacturing techniques are shown. Many system level examples are also shown, primarily for wireless sensing applications. The promising results of these designs indicate that the day when electronics can be printed like newspapers and magazines through roll-to-roll and reel-to-reel printing is not far away.

3D inkjet printed disposable environmental monitoring wireless sensor node

KAUST Repository

Farooqui, Muhammad Fahad

2017-10-24

We propose a disposable, miniaturized, moveable, fully integrated 3D inkjet-printed wireless sensor node for large area environmental monitoring applications. As a proof of concept, we show the wireless sensing of temperature, humidity and H2S levels which are important for early warnings of two critical environmental conditions namely forest fires and industrial gas leaks. The temperature sensor has TCR of -0.018/°, the highest of any inkjet-printed sensor and the H2S sensor can detect as low as 3 ppm of gas. These sensors and an antenna have been realized on the walls of a 3D-printed cubic package which encloses the microelectronics developed on a 3D-printed circuit board. Hence, 3D printing and inkjet printing have been combined in order to realize a unique low-cost, fully integrated wireless sensor node. Field tests show that these sensor nodes can wirelessly communicate up to a distance of over 100m. Our proposed sensor node can be a part of internet of things with the aim of providing a better and safe living.

Raman spectroscopy and capillary electrophoresis applied to forensic colour inkjet printer inks analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Król, Małgorzata; Karoly, Agnes; Kościelniak, Paweł

2014-09-01

Forensic laboratories are increasingly engaged in the examination of fraudulent documents, and what is important, in many cases these are inkjet-printed documents. That is why systematic approaches to inkjet printer inks comparison and identification have been carried out by both non-destructive and destructive methods. In this study, micro-Raman spectroscopy and capillary electrophoresis (CE) were applied to the analysis of colour inkjet printer inks. Micro-Raman spectroscopy was used to study the chemical composition of colour inks in situ on a paper surface. It helps to characterize and differentiate inkjet inks, and can be used to create a spectra database of inks taken from different cartridge brands and cartridge numbers. Capillary electrophoresis in micellar electrophoretic capillary chromatography mode was applied to separate colour and colourless components of inks, enabling group identification of those components which occur in a sufficient concentration (giving intensive peaks). Finally, on the basis of the obtained results, differentiation of the analysed inks was performed. Twenty-three samples of inkjet printer inks were examined and the discriminating power (DP) values for both presented methods were established in the routine work of experts during the result interpretation step. DP was found to be 94.0% (Raman) and 95.6% (CE) when all the analysed ink samples were taken into account, and it was 96.7% (Raman) and 98.4% (CE), when only cartridges with different index numbers were considered. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Weather resistance of inkjet prints on plastic substrates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rozália Szentgyörgyvölgyi

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The development of wide format inkjet printers made the technology available for large area commercials. Outdoor advertising uses a wide range of substrate including paperboard, vinyl, canvas, mesh; the material of the substrate itself has to endure the physical and chemical effects of local weather. Weather elements (humidity, wind, solar irradiation degrade printed products inevitably; plastic products have better resistance against them, than paper based substrates. Service life of the printed product for outdoor application is a key parameter from the customer’s point of view. There are two ways to estimate expected lifetime: on site outdoor testing or laboratory testing. In both cases weathering parameters can be monitored, however laboratory testing devices may produce the desired environmental effects and thus accelerate the aging process. Our research objective was to evaluate the effects of artificial weathering on prints produced by inkjet technology on plastic substrates. We used a large format CMYK inkjet printer (Mutoh Rockhopper II, with Epson DX 4 print heads to print our test chart on two similar substrates (PVC coated tarpaulins with grammages 400 g/m2 and 440 g/m2. Specimen were aged in an Atlas Suntest XLS+ material tester device for equal time intervals. We measured and calculated the gradual changes of the optical properties (optical density, tone value, colour shifts of the test prints.

Fabrication of interdigitated electrodes by inkjet printing technology for apllication in ammonia sensing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le, Duy Dam; Nguyen, Thi Ngoc Nhien; Doan, Duc Chanh Tin; Dang, Thi My Dung; Dang, Mau Chien

2016-01-01

In this paper interdigitated electrodes for gas sensors were fabricated by inkjet printing technology. Silver electrodes were inkjet printed on Si/SiO 2 substrates instead of traditional photolithography method. The inkjet printing parameters to obtain desired dimensions, thickness of the electrodes and distance between the interdigitated electrodes were optimized in this study. The fabricated interdigitated silver electrodes were tested for application in ammonia gas sensors. Conductive polyaniline (PANI) layer was coated on the silver interdigitated electrodes by drop-coating. Ammonia detection of the PANI-coated chips was characterized with a gas measurement system in which humidity and ammonia concentrations were well-controlled. The electrical conductivity of the PANI films coated on the electrodes was measured when the PANI films were exposed to nitrogen and ammonia. The conductivity of the PANI films decreased significantly due to the deprotonation process of PANI upon ammonia expodure. The recovery time was about 15 min by heating up the polymer chip at 60 °C. The results showed that the silver electrodes fabricated by inkjet printing technique could be used as a sensor platform for ammonia detection. (paper)

Principle of topography-directed inkjet printing for functional micro-tracks in flexible substrates

Science.gov (United States)

Keum, Chang-Min; Lee, In-Ho; Park, Hea-Lim; Kim, Chiwoo; Lüssem, Björn; Choi, Jong Sun; Lee, Sin-Doo

2017-06-01

We present a general principle of topography-directed (TD) inkjet printing for functional micro-tracks embedded in a flexible elastomer substrate. The essential features of the TD inkjet printing in a micro-structured substrate with periodic grooves and ridges are described in terms of the topographic parameters for the transformation from a single droplet to a filament or an edge-disjoint pattern of ink in the groove. Silver ink, being widely used for producing conductive wires by conventional inkjet printing, is utilized as a testbed in our study. The underlying mechanisms for the spreading and drying processes of ink drops under the topographic compartment can be understood in a two-dimensional parameter space of the aspect ratio of the groove and the contact angle of ink on the substrate. The wetting morphologies of ink droplets are described in an analytical model where the Laplace pressure and the mean curvature at the vapor/ink interface are taken into account. The first principle of the TD inkjet printing would be applicable for constructing a variety of functional micro-tracks with high pattern fidelity from different classes of solutions such as conducting polymers, organic semiconductors, and colloidal nanoparticles.

Inkjet printing of multifilamentary YBCO for low AC loss coated conductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hopkins, S C; Joseph, D; Mitchell-Williams, T B; Glowacki, B A; Calleja, A; Vlad, V R; Vilardell, M; Ricart, S; Granados, X; Puig, T; Obradors, X; Usoskin, A; Falter, M; Bäcker, M

2014-01-01

Considerable progress has been made with the development of REBCO coated conductors in recent years, and high performance conductors are available commercially. For many applications, however, the cost remains prohibitive, and AC losses discourage their selection for higher frequency applications. Chemical solution deposition (CSD) methods are attractive for low-cost, scalable preparation of buffer and superconductor layers, and in many respects inkjet printing is the method of choice, permitting non-contact deposition with minimal materials wastage and excellent control of coating thickness. Highly textured coatings of YBCO and Gd-doped CeO 2 have previously been reported on buffered metal substrates. Inkjet printing also introduces the possibility of patterning - directly depositing two and three dimensional structures without subtractive processing - offering a low-cost route to coated conductors with reduced AC losses. In this contribution, the inkjet deposition of superconducting YBCO tracks is reported on industrially relevant buffered metal substrates both by direct printing and an inverse patterning approach. In the latter approach, ceria tracks were printed reported, which are a candidate both for resistive filament spacers and buffer layers. TFA-based precursor solutions have been printed on SS/ABAD-YSZ/CeO 2 and Ni-W/LZO/CeO 2 RABiTS substrates, and the resulting multifilamentary samples characterised by microscopy and scanning Hall probe measurements. The prospects for future inkjet-printed low AC loss coated conductors are discussed, including control of interfilamentary resistivity and bridging, transposed filamentary structures and stabilisation material.

ELEMENT DESIGN FOR AN INKJET SYSTEM OF HYDROSTATIC GAS BEARING CONTROL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. E. Il'ina

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Subject of Study. The paper discusses the concept of inkjet systems application, also known as pneumonics, for automatic hydrostatic gas bearing control. Inkjet systems have the advantages over traditional control systems in those problems where the speed of traditional mechanical, electrical or hydraulic servomotors is not enough. Control of the shaft position in gas bearing with forced gas supply into the gap between the shaft and the bearing is typical for this class of problems. In this case, control means the pressure changing or flow rate of gas supplied to the gap by at least one of three axes at a frequency higher than the nominal speed of the shaft. Thus, high speed of response is required from the system. The objective of this work is to design a discrete jet element, testing of its geometry and switching characteristics. Main Results. The discrete inkjet element for oil-free non-contact transmission working on the refrigerant was designed. Relay transition process was modeled in the inkjet element with the use of numerical methods. The switching time has reached 0.2-0.3 ms; this is one order less than the requirements of aircraft control systems, which typically operate at a frequency of about 200 Hz. It is shown that periodic oscillations with high frequency occur when the control signal is injected with insufficient level of pressure. Therefore, a separate design task is to determine the minimum pressure allowable in the control channel.

Inkjet printing-based volumetric display projecting multiple full-colour 2D patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Hirayama, Ryuji; Suzuki, Tomotaka; Shimobaba, Tomoyoshi; Shiraki, Atsushi; Naruse, Makoto; Nakayama, Hirotaka; Kakue, Takashi; Ito, Tomoyoshi

2017-04-01

In this study, a method to construct a full-colour volumetric display is presented using a commercially available inkjet printer. Photoreactive luminescence materials are minutely and automatically printed as the volume elements, and volumetric displays are constructed with high resolution using easy-to-fabricate means that exploit inkjet printing technologies. The results experimentally demonstrate the first prototype of an inkjet printing-based volumetric display composed of multiple layers of transparent films that yield a full-colour three-dimensional (3D) image. Moreover, we propose a design algorithm with 3D structures that provide multiple different 2D full-colour patterns when viewed from different directions and experimentally demonstrate prototypes. It is considered that these types of 3D volumetric structures and their fabrication methods based on widely deployed existing printing technologies can be utilised as novel information display devices and systems, including digital signage, media art, entertainment and security.

Creating transient cell membrane pores using a standard inkjet printer.

Science.gov (United States)

Owczarczak, Alexander B; Shuford, Stephen O; Wood, Scott T; Deitch, Sandra; Dean, Delphine

2012-03-16

Bioprinting has a wide range of applications and significance, including tissue engineering, direct cell application therapies, and biosensor microfabrication. Recently, thermal inkjet printing has also been used for gene transfection. The thermal inkjet printing process was shown to temporarily disrupt the cell membranes without affecting cell viability. The transient pores in the membrane can be used to introduce molecules, which would otherwise be too large to pass through the membrane, into the cell cytoplasm. The application being demonstrated here is the use of thermal inkjet printing for the incorporation of fluorescently labeled g-actin monomers into cells. The advantage of using thermal ink-jet printing to inject molecules into cells is that the technique is relatively benign to cells. Cell viability after printing has been shown to be similar to standard cell plating methods. In addition, inkjet printing can process thousands of cells in minutes, which is much faster than manual microinjection. The pores created by printing have been shown to close within about two hours. However, there is a limit to the size of the pore created (~10 nm) with this printing technique, which limits the technique to injecting cells with small proteins and/or particles. A standard HP DeskJet 500 printer was modified to allow for cell printing. The cover of the printer was removed and the paper feed mechanism was bypassed using a mechanical lever. A stage was created to allow for placement of microscope slides and coverslips directly under the print head. Ink cartridges were opened, the ink was removed and they were cleaned prior to use with cells. The printing pattern was created using standard drawing software, which then controlled the printer through a simple print command. 3T3 fibroblasts were grown to confluence, trypsinized, and then resuspended into phosphate buffered saline with soluble fluorescently labeled g-actin monomers. The cell suspension was pipetted into the

Fully inkjet printed RF inductors and capacitors using polymer dielectric and silver conductive ink with through vias

KAUST Repository

McKerricher, Garret

2015-03-01

In this paper, fully inkjet printed multilayer capacitors and inductors are fabricated and characterized using poly 4-vinylphenol (PVP) ink as the dielectric layer and silver nanoparticle ink as the conductor. Inkjet printed through vias, created with a novel dissolving method are used to make RF structures in a multilayer inkjet printing process. The vias have been realized in a 350-nm PVP film and exhibit resistance better than 0.1 Ω. Spiral inductors from 10 to 75 nH have been realized with maximum quality factors around five. The 10-nH inductor exhibits a self-resonant frequency slightly below 1 GHz. Metal-insulator-metal capacitors are realized with densities of 50 pF/mm-2. These capacitors demonstrate values ranging from 16 to 50 pF. The 16-pF capacitor shows a self-resonant frequency over 1.5 GHz. The successful implementation of inductors and capacitors in an all inkjet printed multilayer process with vias is an important step toward fully inkjet-printed large area and flexible RF systems.

Inkjet-Printed Porous Silver Thin Film as a Cathode for a Low-Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cell.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Chen-Chiang; Baek, Jong Dae; Su, Chun-Hao; Fan, Liangdong; Wei, Jun; Liao, Ying-Chih; Su, Pei-Chen

2016-04-27

In this work we report a porous silver thin film cathode that was fabricated by a simple inkjet printing process for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cell applications. The electrochemical performance of the inkjet-printed silver cathode was studied at 300-450 °C and was compared with that of silver cathodes that were fabricated by the typical sputtering method. Inkjet-printed silver cathodes showed lower electrochemical impedance due to their porous structure, which facilitated oxygen gaseous diffusion and oxygen surface adsorption-dissociation reactions. A typical sputtered nanoporous silver cathode became essentially dense after the operation and showed high impedance due to a lack of oxygen supply. The results of long-term fuel cell operation show that the cell with an inkjet-printed cathode had a more stable current output for more than 45 h at 400 °C. A porous silver cathode is required for high fuel cell performance, and the simple inkjet printing technique offers an alternative method of fabrication for such a desirable porous structure with the required thermal-morphological stability.

Fully inkjet printed RF inductors and capacitors using polymer dielectric and silver conductive ink with through vias

KAUST Repository

McKerricher, Garret; Gonzalez Perez, Jose; Shamim, Atif

2015-01-01

In this paper, fully inkjet printed multilayer capacitors and inductors are fabricated and characterized using poly 4-vinylphenol (PVP) ink as the dielectric layer and silver nanoparticle ink as the conductor. Inkjet printed through vias, created with a novel dissolving method are used to make RF structures in a multilayer inkjet printing process. The vias have been realized in a 350-nm PVP film and exhibit resistance better than 0.1 Ω. Spiral inductors from 10 to 75 nH have been realized with maximum quality factors around five. The 10-nH inductor exhibits a self-resonant frequency slightly below 1 GHz. Metal-insulator-metal capacitors are realized with densities of 50 pF/mm-2. These capacitors demonstrate values ranging from 16 to 50 pF. The 16-pF capacitor shows a self-resonant frequency over 1.5 GHz. The successful implementation of inductors and capacitors in an all inkjet printed multilayer process with vias is an important step toward fully inkjet-printed large area and flexible RF systems.

Printability of papers recycled from toner and inkjet-printed papers after deinking and recycling processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Karademir, Arif; Aydemir, Cem; Tutak, Dogan; Aravamuthan, Raja

2018-04-01

In our contemporary world, while part of the fibers used in the paper industry is obtained from primary fibers such as wood and agricultural plants, the rest is obtained from secondary fibers from waste papers. To manufacture paper with high optical quality from fibers of recycled waste papers, these papers require deinking and bleaching of fibers at desired levels. High efficiency in removal of ink from paper mass during recycling, and hence deinkability, are especially crucial for the optical and printability quality of the ultimate manufactured paper. In the present study, deinkability and printability performance of digitally printed paper with toner or inkjet ink were compared for the postrecycling product. To that end, opaque 80 g/m 2 office paper was digitally printed under standard printing conditions with laser toner or inkjet ink; then these sheets of paper were deinked by a deinking process based on the INGEDE method 11 p. After the deinking operation, the optical properties of the obtained recycled handsheets were compared with unprinted (reference) paper. Then the recycled paper was printed on once again under the same conditions as before with inkjet and laser printers, to monitor and measure printing color change before and after recycling, and differences in color universe. Recycling and printing performances of water-based inkjet and toner-based laser printed paper were obtained. The outcomes for laser-printed recycled paper were better than those for inkjet-printed recycled paper. Compared for luminosity Y, brightness, CIE a* and CIE b* values, paper recycled from laser-printed paper exhibited higher value than paper recycled from inkjet-printed paper.

Bio-patch design and implementation based on a low-power system-on-chip and paper-based inkjet printing technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Geng; Xie, Li; Mantysalo, Matti; Chen, Jian; Tenhunen, Hannu; Zheng, L R

2012-11-01

This paper presents the prototype implementation of a Bio-Patch using fully integrated low-power System-on-Chip (SoC) sensor and paper-based inkjet printing technology. The SoC sensor is featured with programmable gain and bandwidth to accommodate a variety of bio-signals. It is fabricated in a 0.18-ìm standard CMOS technology, with a total power consumption of 20 ìW from a 1.2 V supply. Both the electrodes and interconnections are implemented by printing conductive nano-particle inks on a flexible photo paper substrate using inkjet printing technology. A Bio-Patch prototype is developed by integrating the SoC sensor, a soft battery, printed electrodes and interconnections on a photo paper substrate. The Bio-Patch can work alone or operate along with other patches to establish a wired network for synchronous multiple-channel bio-signals recording. The measurement results show that electrocardiogram and electromyogram are successfully measured in in-vivo tests using the implemented Bio-Patch prototype.

Organic ferroelectric memory devices with inkjet-printed polymer electrodes on flexible substrates

KAUST Repository

Bhansali, Unnat Sampatraj

2013-05-01

Drop-on-demand piezoelectric inkjet-printing technique has been used to fabricate a functional cross-bar array of all-organic ferroelectric memory devices. The polymer-ferroelectric-polymer device consists of a ferroelectric copolymer P(VDF-TrFE) film sandwiched between inkjet-patterned, continuous, orthogonal lines of PEDOT:PSS polymer as the bottom and top electrodes. These devices exhibit well-saturated hysteresis curves with a maximum remnant polarization (Pr) = 6.7 μC/cm2, coercive field (E c) = 55 MV/m and a peak capacitance density of 45 nF/cm2. Our polarization fatigue measurements show that these devices retain ∼100% and 45% of their initial Pr values after 103 and 10 5 stress cycles, respectively. The overall performance and polarization retention characteristics of these ferroelectric capacitors with inkjet-printed polymer electrodes are comparable to metal and spin-cast polymer electrodes suggesting their potential use in large-area flexible electronics. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improved performance of inkjet-printed Ag source/drain electrodes for organic thin-film transistors by overcoming the coffee ring effects

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Cheng-Fang; Lin, Yan; Lai, Wen-Yong; Huang, Wei

2017-11-01

Inkjet printing is a promising technology for the scalable fabrication of organic electronics because of the material conservation and facile patterning as compared with other solution processing techniques. In this study, we have systematically investigated the cross-sectional profile control of silver (Ag) electrode via inkjet printing. A facile methodology for achieving inkjet-printed Ag source/drain with improved profiles is developed. It is demonstrated that the printing conditions such as substrate temperature, drop spacing and printing layers affect the magnitude of the droplet deposition and the rate of evaporation, which can be optimized to greatly reduce the coffee ring effects for improving the inkjet-printed electrode profiles. Ag source/drain electrodes with uniform profiles were successfully inkjet-printed and incorporated into organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs). The resulting devices showed superior electrical performance than those without special treatments. It is noted to mention that the strategy for modulating the inkjet-printed Ag electrodes in this work does not demand the ink formulation or complicated steps, which is beneficial for scaling up the printing techniques for potential large-area/mass manufacturing.

The fluid transport in inkjet-printed liquid rivulets

Science.gov (United States)

Singler, Timothy; Liu, Liang; Sun, Xiaoze; Pei, Yunheng; Microfluidic; Interfacial Transport Lab Team

2017-11-01

Inkjet printing holds significant potential for the controlled deposition of solution-processed functional materials spanning applications from microelectronics to biomedical sciences. Although theoretical and experimental investigations addressing the stability criteria of the inkjet-printed liquid rivulets have been discussed in the literature, the associated transport phenomena have received little attention. This study focuses on the experimental investigation of printed rivulets, stable with respect to Rayleigh-Plateau, but exhibiting bulge instability. The morphological evolution and the depth-resolved flow field of the rivulets were assessed via high-speed imaging in conjunction with micro-PIV. We discuss in detail effects of repetitive wave motion induced by periodic drop impact at the leading edge and the associated pulsatile flow, as well as the persistent nonuniform mass distribution in the ridge region of the rivulet. The results provide an experimental foundation for more detailed theoretical modelling of printed rivulet flows.

Fabricating high-resolution offset color-filter black matrix by integrating heterostructured substrate with inkjet printing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, Guo-Shin; You, Po-Chin; Lin, Kai-Lun; Hong, Chien-Chong; Liou, Tong-Miin

2014-01-01

This paper presents a self-aligning ink by integrating an inkjet printing technique and heterostructures to fabricate a black matrix with a micrometer-scale tunable thickness. The black matrix is a grid-like structure used in color filters. Traditionally, a black matrix has been fabricated using photolithography techniques, the disadvantages of which are high material consumption, less fabrication flexibility, complex processing procedures, and high chemical pollution. Inkjet printing technology has garnered attention because of its low material costs, high fabrication flexibility, and reduced processing procedures and pollution. In this study, a fabricating process combining an inkjet printing technique with heterostructures to form stripe-arranged and delta-arranged thickness-tunable black matrices has been demonstrated. The deformation and self-aligning process of ink droplet impingement onto gutters are driven by designed heterogeneous surface properties. The minimum track width attained is 10 µm, which is competitive for color filter resolutions for thin-film transistor liquid crystal displays. The developed technology surmounts the bottlenecks of inkjet printing resolution, and saves more than 75% black material than modern photolithography. (paper)

Effect of Hyperbranched Polymers on Curing Behavior of UV Curable Inks in Inkjet Printing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samane Jafarifard

2016-07-01

Full Text Available A high quality and high resolution printing can be rapidly created by inkjet printing technology. Inkjet printing is one of the most economic printing methods and ink waste in this technique is very low. Inkjet process provides printing on any type of substrates. The UV curable inks are special types of printing inks that have been widely used in the last decades. The use of UV curable inks is more attractive in inkjet printing technology in comparison to other methods of printing. The most important advantage of UV curable inks in this method is that they are VOC-free and compatible and have good adhesion on many types of substrates. In this research, the effect of hyperbranched polymers on the curing behavior of UV curable inks was investigated. Two types of hyperbranched polymers with hydroxyl and fatty acid chain terminal groups were used in ink formulations. The effect of hyperbranched polymers on the curing behavior of UV curable ink was investigated by real-time FTIR analysis. The results showed that the hyperbranched polymers could improve curing process by increasing the conversion rate of the third curing stage. All ink formulations containing hyperbranched polymers showed higher conversion than a neat sample. The highest conversion was 77 % for the blend containing a hyperbranched polymer with hydroxyl end groups while the neat sample showed a final conversion of 55%. UV curable inks in inkjet process containing hyperbranched polymers with hydroxyl end groups showed a higher final conversion than neat sample.

Evaluation of ink-jet printed current collecting grids and bushbars for ITO-free organic solar cells

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Galagan, Y.O.; Coenen, E,W.C.; Sabik, S.; Gorter, H.H.; Barink, M.; Veenstra, S.C.; Kroon, J.M.; Andriessen, H.A.J.M.; Blom, P.W.M.

2012-01-01

ITO-free organic solar cells with ink-jet printed current collecting grids and high conducting PEDOT:PSS as composite anode are demonstrated. Inkjet printed current collecting grids with different cross-sectional are as have been investigated. The effect of the width and height of the gridlines and

Inkjet printing technology and conductive inks synthesis for microfabrication techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dang, Mau Chien; Dung Dang, Thi My; Fribourg-Blanc, Eric

2013-01-01

Inkjet printing is an advanced technique which reliably reproduces text, images and photos on paper and some other substrates by desktop printers and is now used in the field of materials deposition. This interest in maskless materials deposition is coupled with the development of microfabrication techniques for the realization of circuits or patterns on flexible substrates for which printing techniques are of primary interest. This paper is a review of some results obtained in inkjet printing technology to develop microfabrication techniques at Laboratory for Nanotechnology (LNT). Ink development, in particular conductive ink, study of printed patterns, as well as application of these to the realization of radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags on flexible substrates, are presented. (paper)

Ink-jet printed porous composite LiFePO4 electrode from aqueous suspension for microbatteries

Science.gov (United States)

Delannoy, P.-E.; Riou, B.; Brousse, T.; Le Bideau, J.; Guyomard, D.; Lestriez, B.

2015-08-01

This work demonstrates ink-jet printed LiFePO4-based composite porous electrodes for microbattery application. As binder and dispersant, we found that aqueous inks with more suitable rheological properties with respect to ink-jet printing are prepared with the low molecular weight poly-acrylic-co-maleic acid copolymer, rather than with the carboxymethyl cellulose standard binder of the lithium-ion technology. The ink-jet printed thin and porous electrode shows very high rate charge/discharge behavior, both in LiPF6/ethylene carbonate-dimethyl carbonate (LP30) and lithium bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonylimide salt (Li-TFSI) in N-methyl-N-propylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethane)suflonylimide ionic liquid (PYR13-TFSI) electrolytes, as well as good cyclability.

Low-Cost Inkjet-Printed Wireless Sensor Nodes for Environmental and Health Monitoring Applications

KAUST Repository

Farooqui, Muhammad Fahad

2016-11-01

Increase in population and limited resources have created a growing demand for a futuristic living environment where technology enables the efficient utilization and management of resources in order to increase quality of life. One characteristic of such a society, which is often referred to as a ‘Smart City’, is that the people are well informed about their physiological being as well as the environment around them, which makes them better equipped to handle crisis situations. There is a need, therefore, to develop wireless sensors which can provide early warnings and feedback during calamities such as floods, fires, and industrial leaks, and provide remote health care facilities. For these situations, low-cost sensor nodes with small form factors are required. For this purpose, the use of a low-cost, mass manufacturing technique such as inkjet printing can be beneficial due to its digitally controlled additive nature of depositing material on a variety of substrates. Inkjet printing can permit economical use of material on cheap flexible substrates that allows for the development of miniaturized freeform electronics. This thesis describes how low-cost, inkjet-printed, wireless sensors have been developed for real-time monitoring applications. A 3D buoyant mobile wireless sensor node has been demonstrated that can provide early warnings as well as real-time data for flood monitoring. This disposable paper-based module can communicate while floating in water up to a distance of 50 m, regardless of its orientation in the water. Moreover, fully inkjet-printed sensors have been developed to monitor temperature, humidity and gas levels for wireless environmental monitoring. The sensors are integrated and packaged using 3D inkjet printing technology. Finally, in order to demonstrate the benefits of such wireless sensor systems for health care applications, a low-cost, wearable, wireless sensing system has been developed for chronic wound monitoring. The system

Inkjet-printed transparent nanowire thin film features for UV photodetectors

KAUST Repository

Chen, Shih Pin

2015-01-01

In this study, a simple and effective direct printing method was developed to print patterned nanowire thin films for UV detection. Inks containing silver or titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanowires were first formulated adequately to form stable suspension for inkjet printing applications. Sedimentation tests were also carried out to characterize the terminal velocity and dispersion stability of nanowires to avoid potential nozzle clogging problems. The well-dispersed silver nanowire ink was then inkjet printed on PET films to form patterned electrodes. Above the electrodes, another layer of TiO2 nanowires was also printed to create a highly transparent photodetector with >80% visible transmittance. The printed photodetector showed a fairly low dark current of 10-12-10-14 A with a high on/off ratio of 2000 to UV radiation. Under a bias voltage of 2 V, the detector showed fast responses to UV illumination with a rise time of 0.4 s and a recovery time of 0.1 s. More photo currents can also be collected with a larger printed electrode area. In summary, this study shows the feasibility of applying inkjet printing technology to create nanowire thin films with specific patterns, and can be further employed for photoelectric applications. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2015.

High yield growth of patterned vertically aligned carbon nanotubes using inkjet-printed catalyst.

Science.gov (United States)

Beard, James D; Stringer, Jonathan; Ghita, Oana R; Smith, Patrick J

2013-10-09

This study reports on the fabrication of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes localized at specific sites on a growth substrate by deposition of a nanoparticle suspension using inkjet printing. Carbon nanotubes were grown with high yield as vertically aligned forests to a length of approximately 400 μm. The use of inkjet printing for catalyst fabrication considerably improves the production rate of vertically aligned patterned nanotube forests compared with conventional patterning techniques, for example, electron beam lithography or photolithography.

Inkjet printed Cu(In,Ga)S2 nanoparticles for low-cost solar cells

KAUST Repository

Barbe, Jeremy

2016-12-13

Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGSe) thin film solar cells were fabricated by direct inkjet printing of Cu(In,Ga)S2 (CIGS) nanoparticles followed by rapid thermal annealing under selenium vapor. Inkjet printing is a low-cost, low-waste, and flexible patterning method which can be used for deposition of solution-based or nanoparticle-based CIGS films with high throughput. XRD and Raman spectra indicate that no secondary phase is formed in the as-deposited CIGS film since quaternary chalcopyrite nanoparticles are used as the base solution for printing. Besides, CIGSe films with various Cu/(In + Ga) ratios could be obtained by finely tuning the composition of CIGS nanoparticles contained in the ink, which was found to strongly influence the devices performance and film morphology. To date, this is the first successful fabrication of a solar device by inkjet printing of CIGS nanoparticles.

Potential up-scaling of inkjet-printed devices for logical circuits in flexible electronics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mitra, Kalyan Yoti, E-mail: kalyan-yoti.mitra@mb.tu-chemnitz.de, E-mail: enrico.sowade@mb.tu-chemnitz.de; Sowade, Enrico, E-mail: kalyan-yoti.mitra@mb.tu-chemnitz.de, E-mail: enrico.sowade@mb.tu-chemnitz.de [Technische Universität Chemnitz, Department of Digital Printing and Imaging Technology, Chemnitz (Germany); Martínez-Domingo, Carme [Printed Microelectronics Group, CAIAC, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain and Nanobioelectronics and Biosensors Group, Catalan Institute of Nanotechnology (ICN), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Catalonia (Spain); Ramon, Eloi, E-mail: eloi.ramon@uab.cat [Printed Microelectronics Group, CAIAC, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra (Spain); Nanobioelectronics and Biosensors Group, Catalan Institute of Nanotechnology (ICN), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Catalonia (Spain); Carrabina, Jordi, E-mail: jordi.carrabina@uab.cat [Printed Microelectronics Group, CAIAC, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra (Spain); Gomes, Henrique Leonel, E-mail: hgomes@ualg.pt [Universidade do Algarve, Institute of Telecommunications, Faro (Portugal); Baumann, Reinhard R., E-mail: reinhard.baumann@mb.tu-chemnitz.de [Technische Universität Chemnitz, Department of Digital Printing and Imaging Technology, Chemnitz (Germany); Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano Systems (ENAS), Department of Printed Functionalities, Chemnitz (Germany)

2015-02-17

Inkjet Technology is often mis-believed to be a deposition/patterning technology which is not meant for high fabrication throughput in the field of printed and flexible electronics. In this work, we report on the 1) printing, 2) fabrication yield and 3) characterization of exemplary simple devices e.g. capacitors, organic transistors etc. which are the basic building blocks for logical circuits. For this purpose, printing is performed first with a Proof of concept Inkjet printing system Dimatix Material Printer 2831 (DMP 2831) using 10 pL small print-heads and then with Dimatix Material Printer 3000 (DMP 3000) using 35 pL industrial print-heads (from Fujifilm Dimatix). Printing at DMP 3000 using industrial print-heads (in Sheet-to-sheet) paves the path towards industrialization which can be defined by printing in Roll-to-Roll format using industrial print-heads. This pavement can be termed as 'Bridging Platform'. This transfer to 'Bridging Platform' from 10 pL small print-heads to 35 pL industrial print-heads help the inkjet-printed devices to evolve on the basis of functionality and also in form of up-scaled quantities. The high printed quantities and yield of inkjet-printed devices justify the deposition reliability and potential to print circuits. This reliability is very much desired when it comes to printing of circuits e.g. inverters, ring oscillator and any other planned complex logical circuits which require devices e.g. organic transistors which needs to get connected in different staged levels. Also, the up-scaled inkjet-printed devices are characterized and they reflect a domain under which they can work to their optimal status. This status is much wanted for predicting the real device functionality and integration of them into a planned circuit.

Potential up-scaling of inkjet-printed devices for logical circuits in flexible electronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitra, Kalyan Yoti; Sowade, Enrico; Martínez-Domingo, Carme; Ramon, Eloi; Carrabina, Jordi; Gomes, Henrique Leonel; Baumann, Reinhard R.

2015-01-01

Inkjet Technology is often mis-believed to be a deposition/patterning technology which is not meant for high fabrication throughput in the field of printed and flexible electronics. In this work, we report on the 1) printing, 2) fabrication yield and 3) characterization of exemplary simple devices e.g. capacitors, organic transistors etc. which are the basic building blocks for logical circuits. For this purpose, printing is performed first with a Proof of concept Inkjet printing system Dimatix Material Printer 2831 (DMP 2831) using 10 pL small print-heads and then with Dimatix Material Printer 3000 (DMP 3000) using 35 pL industrial print-heads (from Fujifilm Dimatix). Printing at DMP 3000 using industrial print-heads (in Sheet-to-sheet) paves the path towards industrialization which can be defined by printing in Roll-to-Roll format using industrial print-heads. This pavement can be termed as 'Bridging Platform'. This transfer to 'Bridging Platform' from 10 pL small print-heads to 35 pL industrial print-heads help the inkjet-printed devices to evolve on the basis of functionality and also in form of up-scaled quantities. The high printed quantities and yield of inkjet-printed devices justify the deposition reliability and potential to print circuits. This reliability is very much desired when it comes to printing of circuits e.g. inverters, ring oscillator and any other planned complex logical circuits which require devices e.g. organic transistors which needs to get connected in different staged levels. Also, the up-scaled inkjet-printed devices are characterized and they reflect a domain under which they can work to their optimal status. This status is much wanted for predicting the real device functionality and integration of them into a planned circuit

Zirconia UV-curable colloids for additive manufacturing via hybrid inkjet printing-stereolithography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rosa, Massimo; Barou, C.; Esposito, Vincenzo

2018-01-01

Currently, additive manufacturing of ceramics by stereolithography (SLA) is limited to single materials and by a poor thickness resolution that strongly depends on the ceramic particles-UV light interaction. Combining selective laser curing with inkjet printing represents a novel strategy...... to overcome these constrains. Nonetheless, this approach requires UV-curable inks that allow hardening of the printed material and sintering to high density. In this work, we report how to design an ink for inkjet printing of yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) which can be impressed by addition of UV...

Application of Biomaterials and Inkjet Printing to Develop Bacterial Culture System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tithimanan Srimongkon

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We created an automated bioassay system based on inkjet printing. Compared to conventional manual bacterial culture systems our printing approach improves the quality as well as the processing speed. A hydrophobic/hydrophilic pattern as a container supporting a culture medium was built on filter paper using a toluene solution of polystyrene for hydrophobization, followed by toluene printing to create several hydrophilic areas. As culture media we used a novel poly(vinyl alcohol based hydrogel and a standard calcium alginate hydrogel. The poly(vinyl alcohol hydrogel was formed by physical crosslinking poly(vinyl alcohol with adipic acid dihydrazide solutions. The conditions of poly(vinyl alcohol gelation were optimized for inkjet printability and the optimum mixture ratio was determined. The calcium alginate hydrogel was formed by chemical reaction between sodium alginate and CaCl2 solutions. Together with nutrients both hydrogel solutions were successfully printed on paper by means of the modified inkjet printer. The amount of each solution was demanded simply by outputting CMYK values. In the last step bacterial cells were printed on both hydrogel media. For both media we achieved a stable bacteria growth which was confirmed by microscopical imaging of the developed bacterial colonies.

Cells immobilized on patterns printed in DNA by an inkjet printer.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakurai, Kengo; Teramura, Yuji; Iwata, Hiroo

2011-05-01

The ability to two-dimensionally align various kinds of cells freely onto substrate would be a useful tool for analysis of cell-cell interactions. In this study, we aimed to establish a method for attaching cells to the substrate, in which the pattern is drawn by an inkjet printer. Poly-deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was immobilized onto the cell surface by use of DNA-conjugated poly(ethylene) glycol-phospholipid (DNA-PEG-lipid), which is the amphiphilic conjugate of PEG-lipid and single-stranded DNA. The surface of the substrate was then modified with the complementary DNA using an inkjet printer. Finally, DNA-immobilized cells were attached onto the substrate through DNA hybridization. The use of the inkjet printer enabled us to draw the DNA pattern accurately on the substrate with a resolution of a few hundred micrometers. DNA-immobilized cells could be attached precisely along the DNA pattern on the substrate. In addition, various kinds of cells could be attached simultaneously by using various sequences of DNA. Our technique is promising for analysis of cell-cell interactions and differentiation induction in stem cell research. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Inkjet printing of insulin microneedles for transdermal delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Steven; Scoutaris, Nicolaos; Lamprou, Dimitrios; Mallinson, David; Douroumis, Dennis

2015-08-01

Inkjet printing technology was used to apply insulin polymeric layers on metal microneedles for transdermal delivery. A range of various polymers such as gelatin (GLN), polyvinyl caprolactame-polyvinyl acetate-polyethylene glycol (SOL), poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (POX) and trehalose (THL) were assessed for their capacity to form thin uniform and homogeneous layers that preserve insulin intact. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed homogeneous insulin-polymer layers without any phase separation while SOL demonstrated the best performance. Circular discroism (CD) analysis of rehydrated films showed that insulin's alpha helices and β-sheet were well preserved for THL and SOL. In contrast, GLN and POX insulin layers revealed small band shifts indicating possible conformational changes. Insulin release in Franz diffusion cells from MNs inserted into porcine skin showed rapid release rates for POX and GLN within the first 20 min. Inkjet printing was proved an effective approach for transdermal delivery of insulin in solid state.

Radiative transfer analysis of the effect of ink dot area on color phase in inkjet printing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonome, Hiroki; Ishikawa, Yuki; Kono, Takahiro; Yamada, Jun

2017-01-01

This study discusses a mechanism of inkjet printing and investigates the effect of ink contrast on the color phase of the printed object. Inkjet printing is a popular printing method for home use, but its color repeatability is occasionally broken. To verify this problem, we calculated the radiative transfer equation on the surface of an object printed by an inkjet printer, and the color was quantitatively estimated. The ink dot area and spectral reflectance of the printed samples were measured. Furthermore, the spectral reflectance of the objects printed with different dot areas were theoretically calculated. By comparing the measured and calculated reflectance, we estimated the scattering coefficient of the paper and absorption coefficient of the ink. We quantitatively calculated the color with the HSV color system. The hue changed with dot area rate. It is considered that this is caused by the broad range of the spectral absorption coefficients of inks. We believe that this study will aid the development of ink without color change and improve the color repeatability of inkjet printers. - Highlights: • Radiative transfer on the surface of an object printed by an inkjet printer is modeled. • Spectral reflectance of the printed samples are measured and calculated. • The hue changes with dot area rate because of the broad range of the spectral absorption coefficients of inks.

Inkjet printing and adhesion characterisation of conductive tracks on a commercial printed circuit board material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sridhar, A.; Dijk, D.J. van; Akkerman, R.

2009-01-01

Silver nanoparticle-based conductive tracks were inkjet printed using a piezoelectric drop-on-demand inkjet printer on a commercially available electronics grade fibre glass (E-glass) reinforced substrate material, and the experimental results have been summarised. Ink jetting was done on two variants of this substrate material, viz. etched and unetched, to determine the influence of substrate surface topography on adhesion and accuracy of the printed tracks. The pull-off adhesion test method was used to quantify adhesive strength. The dependence of the pull-off test results on local geometry of the test area are illustrated with the aid of scanning electron microscope images and interferometer studies. Based on the outcomes of the experiments, conclusions concerning the suitable surface topography for inkjet printing have been arrived at.

A flexible inkjet printed antenna for wearable electronics applications

KAUST Repository

Karimi, Muhammad Akram; Shamim, Atif

2016-01-01

Wearable electronics has gained enormous attention since past few years because it is a promising technology to enhance the human experience. This paper shows a modified inverted-F antenna (IFA), inkjet printed directly on the fabric. A flexible

Performance improvement of a drop-on-demand inkjet printhead using an optimization-based feedforward control method

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Khalate, A.; Bombois, X.; Babuska, R.; Wijshoff, H.M.A.; Waarsing, R.

2011-01-01

The printing quality delivered by a drop-on-demand (DoD) inkjet printhead is limited due to the residual oscillations in the ink channel. The maximal jetting frequency of a DoD inkjet printhead can be increased by quickly damping the residual oscillations and by bringing in this way the ink channel

Characteristics of via-hole interconnections fabricated by using an inkjet printing method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Yong Suk; You, In Kyu; Koo, Jae Bon; Lee, Sang Seok; Lim, Sang Chul; Kang, Seong Youl; Noh, Yong Young

2010-01-01

Inkjet printing is a familiar technique that creates and releases droplets of fluid on demand and precisely deposits those droplets on a substrate. It has received increased attention for its novelty and ability to produce patterned and template material structures. In the application of electronic interconnection fabrication, drop-on-demand inkjet printers especially offer the advantages of contactless printing and eliminat the use of a die or photomask. In this study, we created a via-hole interconnecting structure through a polymer insulator layer by using an inkjet printing. When the droplets of Ag ink were dropped onto a PMMA/Au/Cr/SiO 2 /Si area and the Ag film was annealed at high temperatures, the Ag ink containing solvents penetrated into the PMMA layer and generated the conducting paths between the top Ag and the bottom Au electrodes by partial dissolution and swelling of the polymer. The surface and the cross-sectional topologies of the formed via-holes were investigated by using an optical microscope and a field emission transmission electron microscope.

Inkjet-Printed Flexible Graphene-Based Supercapacitor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ervin, Matthew H.; Le, Linh T.; Lee, Woo Y.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A flexible, inkjet-printed, graphene-based supercapacitor has been demonstrated with a graphene specific capacitance of up to 192 F/g. • Repeated bending of the device for hundreds of cycles resulted in a loss of capacitance of less than 5%. • The permeability of the Kapton packaging materials is a problem for the common aqueous and organic electrolytes, but ionic liquids appear to be well contained. - Abstract: A flexible supercapacitor is being developed for integrating with and powering flexible electronics for military and commercial applications. Graphene oxide dispersed in water was used as an ink for inkjet printing the electrode active material onto metal film on Kapton current collectors. After printing, the graphene oxide was thermally reduced at 200 °C to produce conductive graphene electrodes. These electrodes were heat sealed together with added electrolyte and separator, and the assembled supercapacitor performance was evaluated. The specific capacitance of the graphene is good, and the overall performance of the packaged device serves as a proof of concept. But in the future, thicker graphene electrodes and further package optimization will be required to obtain good device-level performance. A number of issues associated with using Kapton for packaging these devices are identified and discussed

Experimental Study on Inkjet-Printed Passive UHF RFID Tags on Versatile Paper-Based Substrates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Han He

2016-01-01

Full Text Available We present the possibilities and challenges of passive UHF RFID tag antennas manufactured by inkjet printing silver nanoparticle ink on versatile paper-based substrates. The most efficient manufacturing parameters, such as the pattern resolution, were determined and the optimal number of printed layers was evaluated for each substrate material. Next, inkjet-printed passive UHF RFID tags were fabricated on each substrate with the optimized parameters and number of layers. According to our measurements, the tags on different paper substrates showed peak read ranges of 4–6.5 meters and the tags on different cardboard substrates exhibited peak read ranges of 2–6 meters. Based on their wireless performance, these inkjet-printed paper-based passive UHF RFID tags are sufficient for many future wireless applications and comparable to tags fabricated on more traditional substrates, such as polyimide.

Fabrication of Lanthanum Strontium Cobalt Ferrite-Gadolinium-Doped Ceria Composite Cathodes Using a Low-Price Inkjet Printer.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Gwon Deok; Choi, Hyung Jong; Bae, Kiho; Choi, Hyeon Rak; Jang, Dong Young; Shim, Joon Hyung

2017-11-15

In this work, we have successfully fabricated lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite (LSCF)-gadolinium-doped ceria (GDC) composite cathodes by inkjet printing and demonstrated their functioning in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The cathodes are printed using a low-cost HP inkjet printer, and the LSCF and GDC source inks are synthesized with fluidic properties optimum for inkjet printing. The composition and microstructure of the LSCF and GDC layers are successfully controlled by controlling the color level in the printed images and the number of printing cycles, respectively. Anode-support type SOFCs with optimized LSCF-GDC composite cathodes synthesized by our inkjet printing method have achieved a power output of over 570 mW cm -2 at 650 °C, which is comparable to the performance of a commercial SOFC stack. Electrochemical impedance analysis is carried out to establish a relationship between the cell performance and the compositional and structural characteristics of the printed LSCF-GDC composite cathodes.

Radiative transfer analysis of the effect of ink dot area on color phase in inkjet printing

Science.gov (United States)

Gonome, Hiroki; Ishikawa, Yuki; Kono, Takahiro; Yamada, Jun

2017-06-01

This study discusses a mechanism of inkjet printing and investigates the effect of ink contrast on the color phase of the printed object. Inkjet printing is a popular printing method for home use, but its color repeatability is occasionally broken. To verify this problem, we calculated the radiative transfer equation on the surface of an object printed by an inkjet printer, and the color was quantitatively estimated. The ink dot area and spectral reflectance of the printed samples were measured. Furthermore, the spectral reflectance of the objects printed with different dot areas were theoretically calculated. By comparing the measured and calculated reflectance, we estimated the scattering coefficient of the paper and absorption coefficient of the ink. We quantitatively calculated the color with the HSV color system. The hue changed with dot area rate. It is considered that this is caused by the broad range of the spectral absorption coefficients of inks. We believe that this study will aid the development of ink without color change and improve the color repeatability of inkjet printers.

Inkjet printing of Chitlac-nanosilver—a method to create functional coatings for non-metallic bone implants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nganga, Sara; Moritz, Niko; Jakobsson, Kristina; Vallittu, Pekka K; Kolakovic, Ruzica; Nyman, Johan O; Sandler, Niklas; Borgogna, Massimiliano; Travan, Andrea; Donati, Ivan; Crosera, Matteo

2014-01-01

Biostable fiber-reinforced composites, based on bisphenol-A-dimethacrylate and triethyleneglycoldimethacrylate thermoset polymer matrix reinforced with E-glass fibers have been successfully used in cranial reconstructions and the material has been approved for clinical use. As a further refinement of these implants, antimicrobial, non-cytotoxic coatings on the composites were created by an immersion procedure driven by strong electrostatic interactions. Silver nanoparticles (nAg) were immobilized in lactose-modified chitosan (Chitlac) to prepare the bacteriostatic coatings. Herein, we report the use of inkjet technology (a drop-on-demand inkjet printer) to deposit functional Chitlac-nAg coatings on the thermoset substrates. Characterization methods included scanning electron microscopy, scanning white light interferometry and electro-thermal atomic absorption spectroscopy. Inkjet printing enabled the fast and flexible functionalization of the thermoset surfaces with controlled coating patterns. The coatings were not impaired by the printing process: the kinetics of silver release from the coatings created by inkjet printing and conventional immersion technique was similar. Further research is foreseen to optimize printing parameters and to tailor the characteristics of the coatings for specific clinical applications. (note)

Inkjet printing of Chitlac-nanosilver--a method to create functional coatings for non-metallic bone implants.

Science.gov (United States)

Nganga, Sara; Moritz, Niko; Kolakovic, Ruzica; Jakobsson, Kristina; Nyman, Johan O; Borgogna, Massimiliano; Travan, Andrea; Crosera, Matteo; Donati, Ivan; Vallittu, Pekka K; Sandler, Niklas

2014-10-22

Biostable fiber-reinforced composites, based on bisphenol-A-dimethacrylate and triethyleneglycoldimethacrylate thermoset polymer matrix reinforced with E-glass fibers have been successfully used in cranial reconstructions and the material has been approved for clinical use. As a further refinement of these implants, antimicrobial, non-cytotoxic coatings on the composites were created by an immersion procedure driven by strong electrostatic interactions. Silver nanoparticles (nAg) were immobilized in lactose-modified chitosan (Chitlac) to prepare the bacteriostatic coatings. Herein, we report the use of inkjet technology (a drop-on-demand inkjet printer) to deposit functional Chitlac-nAg coatings on the thermoset substrates. Characterization methods included scanning electron microscopy, scanning white light interferometry and electro-thermal atomic absorption spectroscopy. Inkjet printing enabled the fast and flexible functionalization of the thermoset surfaces with controlled coating patterns. The coatings were not impaired by the printing process: the kinetics of silver release from the coatings created by inkjet printing and conventional immersion technique was similar. Further research is foreseen to optimize printing parameters and to tailor the characteristics of the coatings for specific clinical applications.

Methodology for evaluating pattern transfer completeness in inkjet printing with irregular edges

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Bo-Cin; Chan, Hui-Ju; Hong, Jian-Wei; Lo, Cheng-Yao

2016-06-01

A methodology for quantifying and qualifying pattern transfer completeness in inkjet printing through examining both pattern dimensions and pattern contour deviations from reference design is proposed, which enables scientifically identifying and evaluating inkjet-printed lines, corners, circles, ellipses, and spirals with irregular edges of bulging, necking, and unpredictable distortions resulting from different process conditions. This methodology not only avoids differences in individual perceptions of ambiguous pattern distortions but also indicates the systematic effects of mechanical stresses applied in different directions to a polymer substrate, and is effective for both optical and electrical microscopy in direct and indirect lithography or lithography-free patterning.

Methodology for evaluating pattern transfer completeness in inkjet printing with irregular edges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Bo-Cin; Chan, Hui-Ju; Lo, Cheng-Yao; Hong, Jian-Wei

2016-01-01

A methodology for quantifying and qualifying pattern transfer completeness in inkjet printing through examining both pattern dimensions and pattern contour deviations from reference design is proposed, which enables scientifically identifying and evaluating inkjet-printed lines, corners, circles, ellipses, and spirals with irregular edges of bulging, necking, and unpredictable distortions resulting from different process conditions. This methodology not only avoids differences in individual perceptions of ambiguous pattern distortions but also indicates the systematic effects of mechanical stresses applied in different directions to a polymer substrate, and is effective for both optical and electrical microscopy in direct and indirect lithography or lithography-free patterning. (paper)

The dynamics of the piezo inkjet printhead operation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wijshoff, H.M.A.

2010-01-01

The operation of a piezo inkjet printhead involves a chain of processes in many physical domains at different length scales. The final goal is the formation of droplets of all kinds of fluids with any desired volume, velocity, and a reliability as high as possible. The physics behind the chain of

INKJET PRINTING OF ALUMOOXIDE SOL FOR DEPOSITION OF ANTIREFLECTING COATINGS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. A. Eremeeva

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Subject of Research. This work describes for the first time the formation of antireflective coating on the base of boehmite phase of AlOOH with low refractive index (1.35 by inkjet printing on the nonporous substrate. This method gives the possibility to increase the contrast of colorful interfering images by 32% obtaining by inkjet printing of titanium dioxide sol. The usage of this technology enables to obtain patterns with wide viewing angle and makes them highly stable. Methods. Traditional sol-gel method with peptizing agents and heating for 90oC was applied for sol synthesis. Then the mixture was under sonic treatment for the obtaining of viscous sol. The viscosity was determined by Brookfield HA/HB viscometer, and the surface tension by Kyowa DY-700 tensiometer. Aluminum oxide ink was deposited on polished slides (26×76 mm2, Paul Marienfeld, Germany, over titanium oxide layer. To print titania ink, we use a desktop office printer Canon Pixma IP 2840 and Dimatix DMP-2831. The thickness of an inkjet AlOOH layer after drying in the air and removal of the solvents did not exceed 150 nm with an RI not less than 1.35 in the entire visible range. Results. The stable colloidal ink was obtained for the first time on the base of aluminum oxide matrix with neutral pH. The rheology was regulated by controlling parameters of sol-gel method in the system of aqueous titanium dioxide sol and by adding ethanol that affects the charge of double electrical layer of disperse phase. The controllable coalesce of drops enables to apply antireflection coating within the thickness accuracy of 10 nm. The morphology of particles and the topology of printed structures were analyzed by optical, scanning electron and atomic-force microscopes. Practical Relevance. We have proposed the approach to obtain colorful, interference patterns using two types of high refractive inks with different refractive indexes. The inkjet printing method opens new opportunities for

Inkjet printed Cu(In,Ga)S{sub 2} nanoparticles for low-cost solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barbé, Jérémy, E-mail: jeremy.barbe@kaust.edu.sa; Eid, Jessica [King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Solar and Photovoltaics Engineering Research Center (SPERC), Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering (Saudi Arabia); Ahlswede, Erik; Spiering, Stefanie; Powalla, Michael [Zentrum fur Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) (Germany); Agrawal, Rakesh [Purdue University, School of Chemical Engineering (United States); Del Gobbo, Silvano, E-mail: silvano.delgobbo@gmail.com [King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Solar and Photovoltaics Engineering Research Center (SPERC), Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering (Saudi Arabia)

2016-12-15

Cu(In,Ga)Se{sub 2} (CIGSe) thin film solar cells were fabricated by direct inkjet printing of Cu(In,Ga)S{sub 2} (CIGS) nanoparticles followed by rapid thermal annealing under selenium vapor. Inkjet printing is a low-cost, low-waste, and flexible patterning method which can be used for deposition of solution-based or nanoparticle-based CIGS films with high throughput. XRD and Raman spectra indicate that no secondary phase is formed in the as-deposited CIGS film since quaternary chalcopyrite nanoparticles are used as the base solution for printing. Besides, CIGSe films with various Cu/(In + Ga) ratios could be obtained by finely tuning the composition of CIGS nanoparticles contained in the ink, which was found to strongly influence the devices performance and film morphology. To date, this is the first successful fabrication of a solar device by inkjet printing of CIGS nanoparticles.

Large-area compatible fabrication and encapsulation of inkjet-printed humidity sensors on flexible foils with integrated thermal compensation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Molina-Lopez, F; Quintero, A Vásquez; Mattana, G; Briand, D; De Rooij, N F

2013-01-01

This work presents the simultaneous fabrication of ambient relative humidity (RH) and temperature sensors arrays, inkjet-printed on flexible substrates and subsequently encapsulated at foil level. These sensors are based on planar interdigitated capacitors with an inkjet-printed sensing layer and meander-shaped resistors. Their combination allows the compensation of the RH signals variations at different temperatures. The whole fabrication of the system is carried out at foil level and involves the utilization of additive methods such as inkjet-printing and electrodeposition. Electrodeposition of the printed lines resulted in an improvement of the thermoresistors. The sensors have been characterized and their performances analyzed. The encapsulation layer does not modify the performances of the sensors in terms of sensitivity or response time. This work demonstrates the potential of inkjet-printing in the large-area fabrication of light-weight and cost-efficient gas sensors on flexible substrates. (paper)

Synthesis of monodisperse silver nanoparticles for ink-jet printed flexible electronics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang Zhiliang; Zhang Xingye; Xin Zhiqing; Deng Mengmeng; Wen Yongqiang; Song Yanlin, E-mail: zhangxy@iccas.ac.cn, E-mail: ylsong@iccas.ac.cn [Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), Key Lab of Organic Solids, Laboratory of New Materials, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (China)

2011-10-21

In this study, monodisperse silver nanoparticles were synthesized with a new reduction system consisting of adipoyl hydrazide and dextrose at ambient temperature. By this facile and rapid approach, high concentration monodisperse silver nanoparticles were obtained on a large scale at low protectant/AgNO{sub 3} mass ratio which was highly beneficial to low cost and high conductivity. Based on the synthesized monodisperse silver nanoparticles, conductive inks were prepared with water, ethanol and ethylene glycol as solvents, and were expected to be more environmentally friendly. A series of electrocircuits were fabricated by ink-jet printing silver nanoparticle ink on paper substrate with a commercial printer, and they had low resistivity in the range of 9.18 x 10{sup -8}-8.76 x 10{sup -8} {Omega} m after thermal treatment at 160 {sup 0}C for 30 min, which was about five times that of bulk silver (1.586 x 10{sup -8} {Omega} m). Moreover, a radio frequency identification (RFID) antenna was fabricated by ink-jet printing, and 6 m wireless identification was realized after an Alien higgs-3 chip was mounted on the printed antenna by the flip-chip method. These flexible electrocircuits produced by ink-jet printing would have enormous potential for low cost electrodes and sensor devices.

Silver inkjet printing with control of surface energy and substrate temperature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, S-H; Shin, K-Y; Hwang, J Y; Kang, K T; Kang, H S

2008-01-01

The characteristics of silver inkjet printing were intensively investigated with control of surface energy and substrate temperature. A fluorocarbon (FC) film was spincoated on a silicon (Si) substrate to obtain a hydrophobic surface, and an ultraviolet (UV)/ozone (O 3 ) treatment was performed to control the surface wettability of the FC film surface. To characterize the surface changes, we performed measurements of the static and dynamic contact angles and calculated the surface energy by Wu's harmonic mean model. The surface energy of the FC film increased with the UV/O 3 treatment time, while the contact angles decreased. In silver inkjet printing, the hydrophobic FC film could reduce the diameter of the printed droplets. Merging of deposited droplets was observed when the substrate was kept at room temperature. Substrate heating was effective in preventing the merging phenomenon among the deposited droplets, and in reducing the width of printed lines. The merging phenomenon of deposited droplets was also prevented by increasing the UV/O 3 treatment time. Continuous silver lines in the width range of 48.04–139.21 µm were successfully achieved by inkjet printing on the UV/O 3 -treated hydrophobic FC films at substrate temperatures below 90 °C

Synthesis of monodisperse silver nanoparticles for ink-jet printed flexible electronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Zhiliang; Zhang Xingye; Xin Zhiqing; Deng Mengmeng; Wen Yongqiang; Song Yanlin

2011-01-01

In this study, monodisperse silver nanoparticles were synthesized with a new reduction system consisting of adipoyl hydrazide and dextrose at ambient temperature. By this facile and rapid approach, high concentration monodisperse silver nanoparticles were obtained on a large scale at low protectant/AgNO 3 mass ratio which was highly beneficial to low cost and high conductivity. Based on the synthesized monodisperse silver nanoparticles, conductive inks were prepared with water, ethanol and ethylene glycol as solvents, and were expected to be more environmentally friendly. A series of electrocircuits were fabricated by ink-jet printing silver nanoparticle ink on paper substrate with a commercial printer, and they had low resistivity in the range of 9.18 x 10 -8 -8.76 x 10 -8 Ω m after thermal treatment at 160 0 C for 30 min, which was about five times that of bulk silver (1.586 x 10 -8 Ω m). Moreover, a radio frequency identification (RFID) antenna was fabricated by ink-jet printing, and 6 m wireless identification was realized after an Alien higgs-3 chip was mounted on the printed antenna by the flip-chip method. These flexible electrocircuits produced by ink-jet printing would have enormous potential for low cost electrodes and sensor devices.

Conductive Carbon Nanotube Inks for Use with Desktop Inkjet Printing Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Roberson, Luke; Williams, Martha; Tate, LaNetra; Fortier, Craig; Smith, David; Davia, Kyle; Gibson, Tracy; Snyder, Sarah

2013-01-01

Inkjet printing is a common commercial process. In addition to the familiar use in printing documents from computers, it is also used in some industrial applications. For example, wire manufacturers are required by law to print the wire type, gauge, and safety information on the exterior of each foot of manufactured wire, and this is typically done with inkjet or laser printers. The goal of this work was the creation of conductive inks that can be applied to a wire or flexible substrates via inkjet printing methods. The use of inkjet printing technology to print conductive inks has been in testing for several years. While researchers have been able to get the printing system to mechanically work, the application of conductive inks on substrates has not consistently produced adequate low resistances in the kilohm range. Conductive materials can be applied using a printer in single or multiple passes onto a substrate including textiles, polymer films, and paper. The conductive materials are composed of electrical conductors such as carbon nanotubes (including functionalized carbon nanotubes and metal-coated carbon nanotubes); graphene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (e.g., pentacene and bisperipentacene); metal nanoparticles; inherently conductive polymers (ICP); and combinations thereof. Once the conductive materials are applied, the materials are dried and sintered to form adherent conductive materials on the substrate. For certain formulations, increased conductivity can be achieved by printing on substrates supported by low levels of magnetic field alignment. The adherent conductive materials can be used in applications such as damage detection, dust particle removal, smart coating systems, and flexible electronic circuitry. By applying alternating layers of different electrical conductors to form a layered composite material, a single homogeneous layer can be produced with improved electrical properties. It is believed that patterning alternate layers of

High performance inkjet printed phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes based on small molecules commonly used in vacuum processes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jung, Sung-Hoon [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Jang-Joo, E-mail: jjkim@snu.ac.kr [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Hyong-Jun, E-mail: hkim@kongju.ac.kr [Department of Chemical Engineering, Kongju National University, Cheonan, 330-717 (Korea, Republic of)

2012-09-30

High efficiency phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) are realized by inkjet printing based on small molecules commonly used in vacuum processes in spite of the limitation of the limited solubility. The OLEDs used the inkjet printed 5 wt.% tris(2-phenylpyridine)iridium(III) (Ir(ppy){sub 3}) doped in 4,4 Prime -Bis(carbazol-9-yl)biphenyl (CBP) as the light emitting layer on various small molecule based hole transporting layers, which are widely used in the fabrication of OLEDs by vacuum processes. The OLEDs resulted in the high power and the external quantum efficiencies of 29.9 lm/W and 11.7%, respectively, by inkjet printing the CBP:Ir(ppy){sub 3} on a 40 nm thick 4,4 Prime ,4 Double-Prime -tris(carbazol-9-yl)triphenylamine layer. The performance was very close to a vacuum deposited device with a similar structure. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Effective inkjet printed organic light emitting diode (OLED) technique is explored. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Solution process on commonly used hole transporting material (HTM) is demonstrated. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Triplet energy overlap of HTM and emitting material is the key to the performance. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Simple inkjet printed OLED provides the high current efficiency of 40 cd/A.

Three-dimensional inkjet biofabrication based on designed images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arai, Kenichi; Iwanaga, Shintaroh; Toda, Hideki; Genci, Capi; Nakamura, Makoto; Nishiyama, Yuichi

2011-01-01

Tissue engineering has been developed with the ultimate aim of manufacturing human organs, but success has been limited to only thin tissues and tissues with no significant structures. In order to construct more complicated tissues, we have developed a three-dimensional (3D) fabrication technology in which 3D structures are directly built up by layer-by-layer printing with living cells and several tissue components. We developed a custom-made inkjet printer specially designed for this purpose. Recently, this printer was improved, and the on-demand printing mode was developed and installed to fabricate further complicated structures. As a result of this version, 3D layer-by-layer printing based on complicated image data has become possible, and several 2D and 3D structures with more complexity than before were successfully fabricated. The effectiveness of the on-demand printing mode in the fabrication of complicated 3D tissue structures was confirmed. As complicated 3D structures are essential for biofunctional tissues, inkjet 3D biofabrication has great potential for engineering complicated bio-functional tissues.

Three-dimensional inkjet biofabrication based on designed images

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arai, Kenichi; Iwanaga, Shintaroh; Toda, Hideki; Genci, Capi; Nakamura, Makoto [Graduate School of Science and Engineering, University of Toyama, 3190 Gofuku, Toyama 930-8555 (Japan); Nishiyama, Yuichi, E-mail: maknaka@eng.u-toyama.ac.jp [Bioprinting Project of Kanagawa Academy of Science and Technology, Kawasaki (Japan)

2011-09-15

Tissue engineering has been developed with the ultimate aim of manufacturing human organs, but success has been limited to only thin tissues and tissues with no significant structures. In order to construct more complicated tissues, we have developed a three-dimensional (3D) fabrication technology in which 3D structures are directly built up by layer-by-layer printing with living cells and several tissue components. We developed a custom-made inkjet printer specially designed for this purpose. Recently, this printer was improved, and the on-demand printing mode was developed and installed to fabricate further complicated structures. As a result of this version, 3D layer-by-layer printing based on complicated image data has become possible, and several 2D and 3D structures with more complexity than before were successfully fabricated. The effectiveness of the on-demand printing mode in the fabrication of complicated 3D tissue structures was confirmed. As complicated 3D structures are essential for biofunctional tissues, inkjet 3D biofabrication has great potential for engineering complicated bio-functional tissues.

Thermal bubble inkjet printing of water-based graphene oxide and graphene inks on heated substrate

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Simin; Shen, Ruoxi; Qian, Bo; Li, Lingying; Wang, Wenhao; Lin, Guanghui; Zhang, Xiaofei; Li, Peng; Xie, Yonglin

2018-04-01

Stable-jetting water-based graphene oxide (GO) and graphene (GR) inks without any surfactant or stabilizer are prepared from an unstable-jetting water-based starting solvent, with many thermal bubble inkjet satellite drops, by simply increasing the material concentration. The concentration-dependent thermal bubble inkjet droplet generation process is studied in detail. To overcome the low concentration properties of water-based thermal bubble inkjet inks, the substrate temperature is tuned below 60 °C to achieve high-quality print lines. Due to the difference in hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity of the 2D materials, the printed GO lines show a different forming mechanism from that of the GR lines. The printed GO lines are reduced by thermal annealing and by ascorbic acid, respectively. The reduced GO lines exhibit electrical conductivity of the same order of magnitude as that of the GR lines.

A 24 GHz CMOS oscillator transmitter with an inkjet printed on-chip antenna

KAUST Repository

Ghaffar, Farhan A.

2016-08-15

CMOS based RF circuits have demonstrated efficient performance over the decades. However, one bottle neck with this technology is its lossy nature for passive components such as inductors, antennas etc. Due to this drawback, passives are either implemented off chip or the designers work with the inefficient passives. This problem can be alleviated by using inkjet printing as a post process on CMOS chip. In this work, we demonstrate inkjet printing of a patterned polymer (SU8) layer on a 24 GHz oscillator chip to isolate the lossy Si substrate from the passives which are inkjet printed on top of the SU8 layer. As a proof of concept, a monopole antenna is printed on top of the SU8 layer integrating it with the oscillator through the exposed RF pads to realize an oscillator transmitter. The proposed hybrid fabrication technique can be extended to multiple dielectric and conductive printed layers to demonstrate complete RF systems on CMOS chips which are efficient, cost-effective and above all small in size. © 2016 IEEE.

Methodology and technological aspects of the flexible substrate preparation for ink-jet printing technology

Science.gov (United States)

Tarapata, Grzegorz; Marzecki, Michał

2013-10-01

The ink-jet printing technology becomes especially promising for wide volume of production of cheap sensors, consumable electronics and other dedicated applications of everyday life like smart packaging, smart textiles, smart labels, etc. To achieve this goal new materials compatible with ink-jet printing should be developed. Currently on the market there is a growing number of inks with different properties, but their use requires many tests related to its printability and their interaction with other materials. The paper presents technological problems that are encountered by people associated with fabrication of various devices with using of inkjet printing techniques. Results presented in the paper show the influence of surface preparation techniques on the quality of achieved shapes, the impact of other materials already deposited and the impact of another external factors. During carried out experiments the printer Dimatix DMP 2831 and several inks base on nanosilver or dielectric UV curable was used.

Inkjet printing of silver citrate conductive ink on PET substrate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nie Xiaolei; Wang Hong; Zou Jing

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► A direct synthesis method of silver conductive film on PET substrate was presented. ► A stable particle-free conductive ink was prepared. ► Formation of silver-amine complex reduced the thermal decomposition temperature. ► Conductive patterns for flexible electronics were fabricated by inkjet printing. ► Silver film on PET substrate possessed highest adhesion rating even without polymer. - Abstract: Direct synthesis of silver conductive film on PET substrate by inkjet printing silver citrate conductive ink was presented in this paper. This kind of conductive ink contained silver citrate as silver precursor, 1,2-diaminopropane as complex agent dissolving the silver salt and methanol and isopropanol as a media adjusting the viscosity and surface tension. The formation of silver-amine complex reduced the decomposition temperature from 180 °C to 135 °C, thus the ink could be cured at relatively low temperature. The film reached the lowest resistivity of 17 μΩ cm after cured at 150 °C for 50 min, 3.1 μΩ cm at 230 °C and possessed high reflection and excellent adhesive property. Electrical conductivity, surface morphology and composition were investigated by four-point probe method, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). It is demonstrated how the cured condition affects the silver film. Moreover, radio-frequency identification (RFID) antenna was fabricated by inkjet printing, which opens up routes for the flexible electronics fabrication.

Elaboration of a microstructured inkjet-printed carbon electrochemical capacitor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pech, David; Brunet, Magali; Fabre, Norbert; Mesnilgrente, Fabien; Conedera, Veronique; Durou, Hugo [LAAS-CNRS, Universite de Toulouse, 7 av. du Colonel Roche, F-31077 Toulouse (France); Taberna, Pierre-Louis; Simon, Patrice [CIRIMAT-CNRS, Universite de Toulouse, 118 route de Narbonne, F-31062 Toulouse (France)

2010-02-15

Carbon-based micro-supercapacitors dedicated to energy storage in self-powered modules were fabricated with inkjet printing technology on silicon substrate. An ink was first prepared by mixing an activated carbon powder with a PTFE polymer binder in ethylene glycol stabilized with a surfactant then deposited by inkjet on patterned gold current collectors with the substrate heated at 140 C in order to assure a good homogeneity. Electrochemical micro-capacitors with electrodes in an interdigital configuration were fabricated, and characterized using electrochemical techniques in 1 M Et{sub 4}NBF{sub 4} propylene carbonate electrolyte. These micro-devices show an excellent capacitive behavior over a wide potential range of 2.5 V for a cell capacitance of 2.1 mF cm{sup -2}. The newly developed technology will allow the integration of the storage device as close as possible to the MEMS-based energy harvesting device, minimizing power losses through connections. (author)

Inkjet printable nanosilver suspensions for enhanced sintering quality in rapid manufacturing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bai, John G; Creehan, Kevin D; Kuhn, Howard A

2007-01-01

Inkjet printable nanosilver suspensions were prepared by dispersing 30 nm silver particles into a water-based binder system to enhance the sintering quality in rapid manufacturing. During three-dimensional printing (3DP), the nanosilver suspensions were inkjet printed onto repetitively spread microsilver powder for selective joining. Since the nanosilver particles in the suspensions can be sintered at relatively low temperatures to bond the neighbouring microsilver powder, they were used to provide the continuous bonding strength of the manufacturing parts during the heat-up procedure of the sintering operation. Comparative study shows that the silver parts printed using the nanosilver suspension were significantly enhanced in sintering quality than those printed using the binder system, especially when the silver parts had thin or small features with high aspect ratios

Inkjet printing and low temperature sintering for organic electronic applications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wünscher, S.; Teichler, A.; Perelaer, J.; Abbel, R.J.; Schubert, U.S.

2012-01-01

In recent years, inkjet printing is increasingly used as a flexible and digital patterning technique in order to deposit functional materials for the manufacturing of microelectronic applications, including radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, organic photovoltaics (OPV), organic light

3D inkjet printed disposable environmental monitoring wireless sensor node

KAUST Repository

Farooqui, Muhammad Fahad; Shamim, Atif

2017-01-01

We propose a disposable, miniaturized, moveable, fully integrated 3D inkjet-printed wireless sensor node for large area environmental monitoring applications. As a proof of concept, we show the wireless sensing of temperature, humidity and H2S

Tunable inkjet-printed slotted waveguide antenna on a ferrite substrate

KAUST Repository

Nafe, Ahmed

2015-04-13

In this work an inkjet-printed frequency-tunable slotted waveguide antenna on a ferrite substrate is reported. Unlike the typical substrate integrated waveguide approach with via holes, a true 3D rectangular waveguide is realized by inkjet-printing of nano-particle based conductive ink on the broad faces as well as on sides of the substrate. The operating frequency of the antenna can be tuned by applying a variable static bias magnetic field that controls the permeability of the host ferrite substrate. The antenna operates about a center frequency of approximately 14 GHz with an instantaneous impedance bandwidth of 75 MHz. A fabricated prototype has demonstrated a tuning range of 10% (1.5 GHz) using an applied bias magnetic field of 3 kOe yielding it especially attractive for tunable and reconfigurable yet low cost microwave systems.

An inkjet-printed chemical fuse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mabrook, M F; Pearson, C; Petty, M C

2005-01-01

Inkjet printing of the conductive polymer poly(3, 4-ethylene dioxythiophene) doped with polystyrene sulfonated acid (PEDOT-PSS) has been used as the basis for a sensor for organic vapours. The electrical resistance of the film was monitored as it was exposed to atmospheres containing alcohol. Ultrathin films exhibited a sharp and nonreversible increase in their resistance. This resulted from a change in the morphology of the organic layer, thereby disrupting the current flow through the polymer. An intended application for these inkjetprinted devices is in disposable handheld instruments to monitor the presence of organic vapours above a threshold level

Inkjet and screen printing for electronic applications

OpenAIRE

Medina Rodríguez, Beatriz

2016-01-01

Printed electronics (PE) is a set of printing methods used to create electrical devices on various substrates. Printing typically uses common printing equipment suitable for defining patterns on material, such as screen printing, flexography, gravure, offset lithography, and inkjet. Electrically functional, electronic or optical inks are deposited on the substrate, creating active or passive devices. PE offers a great advantage when compared to traditional processes or microelectronics du...

Ink-Jet Printing of Gluconobacter oxydans: Micropatterned Coatings As High Surface-to-Volume Ratio Bio-Reactive Coatings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcello Fidaleo

2013-12-01

Full Text Available We formulated a latex ink for ink-jet deposition of viable Gram-negative bacterium Gluconobacter oxydans as a model adhesive, thin, highly bio-reactive microstructured microbial coating. Control of G. oxydans latex-based ink viscosity by dilution with water allowed ink-jet piezoelectric droplet deposition of 30 × 30 arrays of two or three droplets/dot microstructures on a polyester substrate. Profilometry analysis was used to study the resulting dry microstructures. Arrays of individual dots with base diameters of ~233–241 µm were obtained. Ring-shaped dots with dot edges higher than the center, 2.2 and 0.9 µm respectively, were obtained when a one-to-four diluted ink was used. With a less diluted ink (one-to-two diluted, the microstructure became more uniform with an average height of 3.0 µm, but the ink-jet printability was more difficult. Reactivity of the ink-jet deposited microstructures following drying and rehydration was studied in a non-growth medium by oxidation of 50 g/L D-sorbitol to L-sorbose, and a high dot volumetric reaction rate was measured (~435 g·L−1·h−1. These results indicate that latex ink microstructures generated by ink-jet printing may hold considerable potential for 3D fabrication of high surface-to-volume ratio biocoatings for use as microbial biosensors with the aim of coating microbes as reactive biosensors on electronic devices and circuit chips.

Template Synthesis of Nanostructured Polymeric Membranes by Inkjet Printing.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Peng; Hunter, Aaron; Benavides, Sherwood; Summe, Mark J; Gao, Feng; Phillip, William A

2016-02-10

The fabrication of functional nanomaterials with complex structures has been serving great scientific and practical interests, but current fabrication and patterning methods are generally costly and laborious. Here, we introduce a versatile, reliable, and rapid method for fabricating nanostructured polymeric materials. The novel method is based on a combination of inkjet printing and template synthesis, and its utility and advantages in the fabrication of polymeric nanomaterials is demonstrated through three examples: the generation of polymeric nanotubes, nanowires, and thin films. Layer-by-layer-assembled nanotubes can be synthesized in a polycarbonate track-etched (PCTE) membrane by printing poly(allylamine hydrochloride) and poly(styrenesulfonate) sequentially. This sequential deposition of polyelectrolyte ink enables control over the surface charge within the nanotubes. By a simple change of the printing conditions, polymeric nanotubes or nanowires were prepared by printing poly(vinyl alcohol) in a PCTE template. In this case, the high-throughput nature of the method enables functional nanomaterials to be generated in under 3 min. Furthermore, we demonstrate that inkjet printing paired with template synthesis can be used to generate patterns comprised of chemically distinct nanomaterials. Thin polymeric films of layer-by-layer-assembled poly(allylamine hydrochloride) and poly(styrenesulfonate) are printed on a PCTE membrane. Track-etched membranes covered with the deposited thin films reject ions and can potentially be utilized as nanofiltration membranes. When the fabrication of these different classes of nanostructured materials is demonstrated, the advantages of pairing template synthesis with inkjet printing, which include fast and reliable deposition, judicious use of the deposited materials, and the ability to design chemically patterned surfaces, are highlighted.

Embedding of inkjet-printed Ag-grid/ITO hybrid transparent electrode ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

2018-02-02

Feb 2, 2018 ... Keywords. Solution process; inkjet; electrohydrodynamic printing; transparent electrode; flexible electrode. 1. Introduction. Transparent electrodes (TEs) are one of the most indispensable materials to fabricate rapidly emerging elec- tronic devices, including flexible displays, touch panels, photovoltaic cells ...

Hydrothermal fabrication of hydroxyapatite on the PEG-grafted surface of wood from Chinese Glossy Privet

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ning; Cai, Chuanjie; Cai, Dongqing; Cheng, Junjie; Li, Shengli; Wu, Zhengyan

2012-10-01

Wood-hydroxyapatite composite material was developed by depositing hydrated calcium hydrogen phosphate (HCHP) on the surface of wood from Chinese Glossy Privet (CGP) with polyethylene glycol (PEG, HO(CH2CH2O)nH) as the grafting agent and subsequent hydrothermal vapor treatment. The results illustrated that HCHP could adhere quickly and strongly on the PEG-grafted wood surface. Moreover, this HCHP could be efficiently transformed to hydroxyapatite (HA, Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2) by hydrothermal vapor treatment. IR, XRD analysis and SEM observation indicated that the fabricated hydroxyapatite was pure and its morphology was uniform and microporous. This work provides a new fabricating approach of biocompatible material which may have some potential applications as bone-repairing material.

Surface processing and ageing behavior of silk fabrics treated with atmospheric-pressure plasma for pigment-based ink-jet printing

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Chunming; Wang, Libing; Yu, Miao; Qu, Lijun; Men, Yajing; Zhang, Xiangwu

2018-03-01

Pigment inkjet printing has highlighted the advantages of cost-effective, short production cycle and environment-friendly. However, patterns directly printed with pigment inks usually have low color yields and blurry images which are caused by bleeding phenomenon. This work presents an atmospheric-pressure plasma method for improving the pigment-based ink-jet printing performance of silk fabrics. The effects of surface changes induced are discussed, with data derived from morphological study by atomic force microscopy (AFM), chemical analysis using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and contact angle measurement. Ink-jet printing experiments were conducted to study the influence of measured changes on anti-bleeding property and color strength of treated and original samples. The ageing experiment indicates that the modified silk fabrics should be printed within 24 h after plasma processing for maximum color yields. This study explores an effective approach for the atmospheric-pressure plasma, which can provide its significant use in improving the surface properties and ink-jet printing performance of fabrics.

Inkjet-printing of non-volatile organic resistive devices and crossbar array structures

Science.gov (United States)

Sax, Stefan; Nau, Sebastian; Popovic, Karl; Bluemel, Alexander; Klug, Andreas; List-Kratochvil, Emil J. W.

2015-09-01

Due to the increasing demand for storage capacity in various electronic gadgets like mobile phones or tablets, new types of non-volatile memory devices have gained a lot of attention over the last few years. Especially multilevel conductance switching elements based on organic semiconductors are of great interest due to their relatively simple device architecture and their small feature size. Since organic semiconductors combine the electronic properties of inorganic materials with the mechanical characteristics of polymers, this class of materials is suitable for solution based large area device preparation techniques. Consequently, inkjet based deposition techniques are highly capable of facing preparation related challenges. By gradually replacing the evaporated electrodes with inkjet printed silver, the preparation related influence onto device performance parameters such as the ON/OFF ratio was investigated with IV measurements and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Due to the electrode surface roughness the solvent load during the printing of the top electrode as well as organic layer inhomogeneity's the utilization in array applications is hampered. As a prototypical example a 1diode-1resistor element and a 2×2 subarray from 5×5 array matrix were fully characterized demonstrating the versatility of inkjet printing for device preparation.

A Fully Inkjet Printed 3D Honeycomb Inspired Patch Antenna

KAUST Repository

McKerricher, Garret; Titterington, Don; Shamim, Atif

2015-01-01

by inkjet printing in this work. This is the first demonstration of a fully 3D Multijet printing process with integrated polymer and metal. A 2.4 GHz patch antenna is successfully fabricated with good performance proving the viability of the process

Evaluation of different substrates for inkjet printing of rasagiline mesylate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Genina, Natalja; Janßen, Eva Maria; Breitenbach, Armin

2013-01-01

The main goal of the present study was to evaluate applicability of the different model substrates, namely orodispersible films (ODFs), porous copy paper sheets, and water impermeable transparency films (TFs) in preparation of the inkjet-printed drug-delivery systems. Rasagiline mesylate (RM...

Inkjet Printing of Functional Materials on Selectively Plasma Treated Surfaces

NARCIS (Netherlands)

ir Martijn van Dongen; ir Renee Verkuijlen; Dr Jan Bernards

2011-01-01

In manufacturing of organic electronics, inkjet printing as an alternative technique for depositing materials is becoming increasingly important. Aside to the ink formulations challenges, improving the resolution of the printed patterns is a major goal. In this study we will discuss a newly

Analysis of laser and inkjet prints using spectroscopic methods for forensic identification of questioned documents

OpenAIRE

Gál, Lukáš; Belovičová, Michaela; Oravec, Michal; Palková, Miroslava; Čeppan, Michal

2013-01-01

The spectral properties in UV-VIS-NIR and IR regions of laser and inkjet prints were studied for the purposes of forensic analysis of documents. The procedures of measurements and processing of spectra of printed documents using fibre optics reflectance spectroscopy in UV-VIS and NIR region, FTIR-ATR with diamond/ZnSe and germanium crystals were optimized. It was found that the shapes of spectra of various black laser jet prints and inkjet prints generally differ in the spectral regions...

Inkjet Printing of Back Electrodes for Inverted Polymer Solar cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Angmo, Dechan; Sweelssen, Jorgen; Andriessen, Ronn

2013-01-01

in an otherwise fast roll-to-roll production line. In this paper, the applicability of inkjet printing in the ambient processing of back electrodes in inverted polymer solar cells with the structure ITO/ZnO/P3HT:PCBM/PEDOT:PSS/ Ag is investigated. Furthermore, the limitation of screen printing, the commonly......Evaporation is the most commonly used deposition method in the processing of back electrodes in polymer solar cells used in scientifi c studies. However, vacuum-based methods such as evaporation are uneconomical in the upscaling of polymer solar cells as they are throughput limiting steps...... employed method in the ambient processing of back electrode, is demonstrated and discussed. Both inkjet printing and screen printing of back electrodes are studied for their impact on the photovoltaic properties of the polymer solar cells measured under 1000 Wm−2 AM1.5. Each ambient processing technique...

Inkjet Printing and Ebeam Sintering Approach to Fabrication of GHz Meta material Absorber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, J. W.; Kim, Y. J.; Lee, Y. P.; Park, I. S.; Kang, J. H.; Lim, Jongwoo; Kim, Jonghee; Kim, Hyotae

2013-01-01

Metamaterial absorber structure of GHz range is fabricated by inkjet printing and e-beam sintering. The inkjet printing is of interest, which give the easier and quicker way to fabricate large scale metamaterials than the approaches by the lithographic process, Furthermore it is more suitable to make flexible electronics, which has yet been great technologic trend. Usual post process of inkjet printing is the sintering to ensure solvent-free from the printed pattern and to its better conductivity comparable to the ordinary vacuum deposition process. E-beam irradiation sintering of the pattern is promising because it is inherently local and low temperature process. The main procedure of metamaterials fabrication is printing a resonator structure with lossy metal such as Ag or Au. We designed two types of Ag based multiband absorber which are double and quadruple bands. Those adsorber patterns are printed on polyimide substrate with commercially available Ag ink (DGP 40LT-15C, 25C). The absorbance performance of fabricated metamaterials is characterized by Hewlett-Packard E836B network analyzer in microwave anechoic chamber. The conductivity enhancement after e-beam or other sintering process is checked by measuring sheet resistance. The absorbance of the fabricated metamaterial is measured around 60% for the types designed. The absorbance is not high enough to practical use, which is attributed to low conductivity of the printed pattern. The spectrum shows, however, quite interesting large broadness, which come in the interval between each pack absorbance, witch needs further study. Though the extent of its effectiveness of inkjet printing in metamaterials needs more experimental studies, the demonstrated capability of quick and large area fabrication to flexible substrate is excellent

An inkjet-printed buoyant 3-D lagrangian sensor for real-time flood monitoring

KAUST Repository

Farooqui, Muhammad Fahad

2014-06-01

A 3-D (cube-shaped) Lagrangian sensor, inkjet printed on a paper substrate, is presented for the first time. The sensor comprises a transmitter chip with a microcontroller completely embedded in the cube, along with a $1.5 \\\\lambda 0 dipole that is uniquely implemented on all the faces of the cube to achieve a near isotropic radiation pattern. The sensor has been designed to operate both in the air as well as water (half immersed) for real-time flood monitoring. The sensor weighs 1.8 gm and measures 13 mm$\\\\,\\\\times\\\\,$ 13 mm$\\\\,\\\\times\\\\,$ 13 mm, and each side of the cube corresponds to only $0.1 \\\\lambda 0 (at 2.4 GHz). The printed circuit board is also inkjet-printed on paper substrate to make the sensor light weight and buoyant. Issues related to the bending of inkjet-printed tracks and integration of the transmitter chip in the cube are discussed. The Lagrangian sensor is designed to operate in a wireless sensor network and field tests have confirmed that it can communicate up to a distance of 100 m while in the air and up to 50 m while half immersed in water. © 1963-2012 IEEE.

Combining inkjet printing and sol-gel chemistry for making pH-sensitive surfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Orsi, Gianni; De Maria, Carmelo; Montemurro, Francesca; Chauhan, Veeren M; Aylott, Jonathan W; Vozzi, Giovanni

2015-01-01

Today biomedical sciences are experiencing the importance of imaging biological parameters with luminescence methods. Studying 2D pH distribution with those methods allows building knowledge about complex cellular processes. Immobilizing pH sensitive nanoparticles inside hydrogel matrixes, in order to guarantee a proper SNR, could easily make stable and biocompatible 2D sensors. Inkjet printing is also well known as tool for printing images onto porous surfaces. Recently it has been used as a free-form fabrication method for building three-dimensional parts, and now is being explored as a way of printing electrical and optical devices. Inkjet printing was used either as a rapid prototyping method for custom biosensors. Sol-gel method is naturally bound with inkjet, because the picoliter-sized ink droplets evaporate quickly, thus allowing quick sol-gel transitions on the printed surface. In this work will be shown how to merge those technologies, in order to make a nanoparticles doped printable hydrogel, which could be used for making 2D/3D smart scaffolds able to monitor cell activities. An automated image analysis system was developed in order to quickly have the pH measurements from pH nanosensors fluorescence images.

A Low-Cost Inkjet-Printed Aptamer-Based Electrochemical Biosensor for the Selective Detection of Lysozyme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Niazul Islam Khan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Recently, inkjet-printing has gained increased popularity in applications such as flexible electronics and disposable sensors, as well as in wearable sensors because of its multifarious advantages. This work presents a novel, low-cost immobilization technique using inkjet-printing for the development of an aptamer-based biosensor for the detection of lysozyme, an important biomarker in various disease diagnosis. The strong affinity between the carbon nanotube (CNT and the single-stranded DNA is exploited to immobilize the aptamers onto the working electrode by printing the ink containing the dispersion of CNT-aptamer complex. The inkjet-printing method enables aptamer density control, as well as high resolution patternability. Our developed sensor shows a detection limit of 90 ng/mL with high target selectivity against other proteins. The sensor also demonstrates a shelf-life for a reasonable period. This technology has potential for applications in developing low-cost point-of-care diagnostic testing kits for home healthcare.

Air Entrapment and Drop Formation in Piezo Inkjet Printing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Bos, J.A.

2011-01-01

Piezo drop-on-demand (DOD) inkjet printers are used in an increasing number of applications for their reliable deposition of droplets onto a substrate. Droplets of a few picoliters are ejected from an ink jet nozzle at a frequency of up to 50 kHz. However, entrapment of an air microbubble into the

Numerical simulation of the drying of inkjet-printed droplets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Siregar, D.P.; Kuerten, J.G.M.; Geld, van der C.W.M.

2013-01-01

In this paper we study the behavior of an inkjet-printed droplet of a solute dissolved in a solvent on a solid horizontal surface by numerical simulation. An extended model for drying of a droplet and the final distribution of the solute on an impermeable substrate is proposed. The model extends the

Inkjet printing of silver citrate conductive ink on PET substrate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nie Xiaolei [Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China); Wang Hong, E-mail: hongwang@tju.edu.cn [Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China); Zou Jing [Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China)

2012-11-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A direct synthesis method of silver conductive film on PET substrate was presented. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A stable particle-free conductive ink was prepared. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Formation of silver-amine complex reduced the thermal decomposition temperature. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Conductive patterns for flexible electronics were fabricated by inkjet printing. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Silver film on PET substrate possessed highest adhesion rating even without polymer. - Abstract: Direct synthesis of silver conductive film on PET substrate by inkjet printing silver citrate conductive ink was presented in this paper. This kind of conductive ink contained silver citrate as silver precursor, 1,2-diaminopropane as complex agent dissolving the silver salt and methanol and isopropanol as a media adjusting the viscosity and surface tension. The formation of silver-amine complex reduced the decomposition temperature from 180 Degree-Sign C to 135 Degree-Sign C, thus the ink could be cured at relatively low temperature. The film reached the lowest resistivity of 17 {mu}{Omega} cm after cured at 150 Degree-Sign C for 50 min, 3.1 {mu}{Omega} cm at 230 Degree-Sign C and possessed high reflection and excellent adhesive property. Electrical conductivity, surface morphology and composition were investigated by four-point probe method, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). It is demonstrated how the cured condition affects the silver film. Moreover, radio-frequency identification (RFID) antenna was fabricated by inkjet printing, which opens up routes for the flexible electronics fabrication.

Internet of "printed" Things: low-cost fabrication of autonomous sensing nodes by inkjet printing

Science.gov (United States)

Kawahara, Yoshihiro

2014-11-01

"What if electronics devices are printed using an inkjet printer even at home?" "What if those devices no longer need a battery?" I will introduce two enabling technologies for the Internet of Things concept. 1. Instant Inkjet Circuits: A low cost, fast and accessible technology to support the rapid prototyping of electronic devices. We demonstrated that "sintering-free" silver nano particle ink with a commodity inkjet printer can be used to fabricate printed circuit board and high-frequency applications such as antennas and sensors. The technology is now commercialized by AgIC, Inc. 2. Wireless Power: Although large amounts of data can be exchanged over a wireless communication link, mobile devices are still tethered by power cables. We are trying to solve this problem by two different approaches: energy harvesting. A simple circuitry comprised of diodes and capacitor can convert ambient radio signals into DC current. Our research revealed the signals from TV tower located 6.5km apart could be used to feed 100 microwatts to power microcontrollers.

Deposition of PEDOT: PSS Nanoparticles as a Conductive Microlayer Anode in OLEDs Device by Desktop Inkjet Printer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Ummartyotin

2011-01-01

Full Text Available A simple microfabrication technique for delivering macromolecules and patterning microelectrode arrays using desktop inkjet printer was described. Aqueous solution of nanoparticle of poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT doped with polystyrene sulfonic acid (PSS was prepared while its particle size, the surface tension, and the viscosity of the solution were adjusted to be suitable for deposition on a flexible cellulose nanocomposite substrate via inkjet printer. The statistical average of PEDOT: PSS particle size of 100 nm was observed. The microthickness, surface morphology, and electrical conductivity of the printed substrate were then characterized by profilometer, atomic force microscope (AFM, and four-point probe electrical measurement, respectively. The inkjet deposition of PEDOT: PSS was successfully carried out, whilst retained its transparency feature. Highly smooth surface (roughness ~23–44 nm was achieved.

Integrating integrated circuit chips on paper substrates using inkjet printed electronics

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Bezuidenhout, Petrone H

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the integration of silicon and paper substrates using rapid prototyping inkjet printed electronics. Various Dimatix DMP-2831 material printer settings and adhesives are investigated. The aim is to robustly and effectively...

Inkjet printed electronics using copper nanoparticle ink

OpenAIRE

Kang, Jin Sung; Kim, Hak Sung; Ryu, Jongeun; Thomas Hahn, H.; Jang, Seonhee; Joung, Jae Woo

2010-01-01

Inkjet printing of electrode using copper nanoparticle ink is presented. Electrode was printed on a flexible glass epoxy composite substrate using drop on demand piezoelectric dispenser and was sintered at 200 °C of low temperature in N2 gas condition. The printed electrodes were made with various widths and thickness. In order to control the thickness of the printed electrode, number of printing was varied. Resistivity of printed electrode was calculated from the cross-sectional area measure...

Optimized circuit design for flexible 8-bit RFID transponders with active layer of ink-jet printed small molecule semiconductors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kjellander, B.K.C.; Smaal, W.T.T.; Myny, K.; Genoe, J.; Dehaene, W.; Heremans, P.; Gelinck, G.H.

2013-01-01

We ink-jet print a blend of 6,13-bis(triisopropyl-silylethynyl)pentacene and polystyrene as the active layer for flexible circuits. The discrete ink-jet printed transistors exhibit a saturation mobility of 0.5 cm2 V -1 s-1. The relative spread in transistor characteristics can be very large. This

Inkjet printed ambipolar transistors and inverters based on carbon nanotube/zinc tin oxide heterostructures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Bongjun; Jang, Seonpil; Dodabalapur, Ananth; Geier, Michael L.; Prabhumirashi, Pradyumna L.; Hersam, Mark C.

2014-01-01

We report ambipolar field-effect transistors (FETs) consisting of inkjet printed semiconductor bilayer heterostructures utilizing semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and amorphous zinc tin oxide (ZTO). The bilayer structure allows for electron transport to occur principally in the amorphous oxide layer and hole transport to occur exclusively in the SWCNT layer. This results in balanced electron and hole mobilities exceeding 2 cm 2 V −1 s −1 at low operating voltages ( 10). This work provides a pathway for realizing solution processable, inkjet printable, large area electronic devices, and systems based on SWCNT-amorphous oxide heterostructures

An inkjet printed stripe-type color filter of liquid crystal display

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Chin-Tai; Wu, Kuo-Hua; Shieh, Fanny; Lu, Chun-Fu

2010-01-01

In this paper, we propose a comprehensive concept and new design of a drop-on-demand (DOD) inkjet printing process for fabricating color filter (CF) layers of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) onto the structured surfaces of flat substrates, composed of 'physical sidewalls' for aligning and controlling the liquid morphology. Several fundamental guidelines of the design have been addressed in current inkjet-printing techniques. Using a droplet generator (printhead) of the deposition system, the color-ink drops can be jetted and placed over the specific domains, where the sidewalls align the flow merged from a stream of droplets and fulfill the coverage of the defined areas, in which the geometrical relations correlating the droplets and sidewalls are explicitly expressed in the study. According to the results of the simulation and analysis, the proposed sidewalls, acting as the physical barriers, can control the liquid morphology through the simple geometric factors such as sidewall widths, heights and contact angles. The experimental results showed that the solid RGB color layers were self-assembled from the liquid droplets and formed with the uniform thickness, except for the neighborhood of the sidewalls. It indicated that the sidewalls serving as 'physical barriers' had a remarkable effect in confining and self-aligning the droplet flow within the desirable regions. This inkjet-printing method would alternatively offer one cost-effective and high-flexibility method for the production of the versatile LCD CF, thus being particularly beneficial for large-area printing and flexible substrates.

Fabrication and electrical characterization of partially metallized vias fabricated by inkjet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khorramdel, B; Mäntysalo, M

2016-01-01

Through silicon vias (TSVs), acting as vertical interconnections, play an important role in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) 3D wafer level packaging. Today, taking advantage of nanoparticle inks, inkjet technologies as local filling methods could be used to plate the inside the vias with a conductive material, rather than using a current method, such as chemical vapor deposition or electrolytic growth. This could decrease the processing time, cost and waste material produced. In this work, we have fabricated and demonstrated electrical characterization of TSVs with a top diameter of 85 μm, and partially metallized on their inside walls using silver nanoparticle ink and drop-on-demand inkjet printing. Electrical measurement showed that the resistance of a single via with a void free coverage from top to bottom could be less than 4 Ω, which is still acceptable for MEMS applications. (paper)

Fabrication and electrical characterization of partially metallized vias fabricated by inkjet

Science.gov (United States)

Khorramdel, B.; Mäntysalo, M.

2016-04-01

Through silicon vias (TSVs), acting as vertical interconnections, play an important role in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) 3D wafer level packaging. Today, taking advantage of nanoparticle inks, inkjet technologies as local filling methods could be used to plate the inside the vias with a conductive material, rather than using a current method, such as chemical vapor deposition or electrolytic growth. This could decrease the processing time, cost and waste material produced. In this work, we have fabricated and demonstrated electrical characterization of TSVs with a top diameter of 85 μm, and partially metallized on their inside walls using silver nanoparticle ink and drop-on-demand inkjet printing. Electrical measurement showed that the resistance of a single via with a void free coverage from top to bottom could be less than 4 Ω, which is still acceptable for MEMS applications.

Ligament flow during drop-on-demand inkjet printing of bioink containing living cells

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Mengyun; Krishnamoorthy, Srikumar; Song, Hongtao; Zhang, Zhengyi; Xu, Changxue

2017-03-01

Organ printing utilizes tissue spheroids or filaments as building blocks to fabricate three-dimensional (3D) functional tissues and organs based on a layer-by-layer manufacturing mechanism. These fabricated tissues and organs are envisioned as alternatives to replace the damaged human tissues and organs, which is emerging as a promising solution to solve the organ donor shortage problem being faced all over the world. Inkjetting, one of the key technologies in organ printing, has been widely developed because of its moderate fabrication cost, good process controllability, and scale-up potentials. There are several key steps towards inkjet-based organ printing: generation of droplets from bioink, fabrication of 3D cellular structures, and post-printing tissue fusion and maturation. The droplet formation process is the first step, affecting the overall feasibility of the envisioned organ printing technology. This paper focuses on the ligament flow of the droplet formation process during inkjet printing of bioink containing living cells and its corresponding effect on post-printing cell viability and cell distribution. It is found that (1) two types of ligament flow are observed: at 30 V (Type I), the ligament flow has two different directions at the locations near the nozzle orifice and the forming droplet; at 60 V (Type II), the ligament flow directions are the same at both locations; (2) compared to Type II, fewer cells are ejected into the primary droplets in Type I, because some cells move back into the nozzle driven by the ligament flow in the positive z direction; and (3) cell viability in both Type I and Type II is around 90% without a significant difference. The resulting knowledge will benefit precise control of printing dynamics during inkjet printing of viscoelastic bioink for 3D biofabrication applications.

Micromachining technology for thermal ink-jet products

Science.gov (United States)

Verdonckt-Vandebroek, Sophie

1997-09-01

This paper reviews recent trends and evolutions in the low- end color printing market which is currently dominated by thermal inkjet (TIJ) based products. Micro electromechanical systems technology has been an enabler for the unprecedented cost/performance ratio of these printing products. The generic TIJ operating principles are based on an intimate blend of thermodynamics, fluid dynamics and LSI electronics. The key principles and design issues are outlined and the fabrication of TIJ printheads illustrated with an implementation by the Xerox Corporation.

Inkjet Printing of Drug-Loaded Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles—A Platform for Drug Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henrika Wickström

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs have shown great potential in improving drug delivery of poorly water soluble (BCS class II, IV and poorly permeable (BCS class III, IV drugs, as well as facilitating successful delivery of unstable compounds. The nanoparticle technology would allow improved treatment by reducing adverse reactions of currently approved drugs and possibly reintroducing previously discarded compounds from the drug development pipeline. This study aims to highlight important aspects in mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN ink formulation development for digital inkjet printing technology and to advice on choosing a method (2D/3D for nanoparticle print deposit characterization. The results show that both unfunctionalized and polyethyeleneimine (PEI surface functionalized MSNs, as well as drug-free and drug-loaded MSN–PEI suspensions, can be successfully inkjet-printed. Furthermore, the model BCS class IV drug remained incorporated in the MSNs and the suspension remained physically stable during the processing time and steps. This proof-of-concept study suggests that inkjet printing technology would be a flexible deposition method of pharmaceutical MSN suspensions to generate patterns according to predefined designs. The concept could be utilized as a versatile drug screening platform in the future due to the possibility of accurately depositing controlled volumes of MSN suspensions on various materials.

Inkjet Printing of Drug-Loaded Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles-A Platform for Drug Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Wickström, Henrika; Hilgert, Ellen; Nyman, Johan O; Desai, Diti; Şen Karaman, Didem; de Beer, Thomas; Sandler, Niklas; Rosenholm, Jessica M

2017-11-21

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) have shown great potential in improving drug delivery of poorly water soluble (BCS class II, IV) and poorly permeable (BCS class III, IV) drugs, as well as facilitating successful delivery of unstable compounds. The nanoparticle technology would allow improved treatment by reducing adverse reactions of currently approved drugs and possibly reintroducing previously discarded compounds from the drug development pipeline. This study aims to highlight important aspects in mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN) ink formulation development for digital inkjet printing technology and to advice on choosing a method (2D/3D) for nanoparticle print deposit characterization. The results show that both unfunctionalized and polyethyeleneimine (PEI) surface functionalized MSNs, as well as drug-free and drug-loaded MSN-PEI suspensions, can be successfully inkjet-printed. Furthermore, the model BCS class IV drug remained incorporated in the MSNs and the suspension remained physically stable during the processing time and steps. This proof-of-concept study suggests that inkjet printing technology would be a flexible deposition method of pharmaceutical MSN suspensions to generate patterns according to predefined designs. The concept could be utilized as a versatile drug screening platform in the future due to the possibility of accurately depositing controlled volumes of MSN suspensions on various materials.

Fabrication of microlens array with controllable high NA and tailored optical characteristics using confined ink-jetting

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Li; Luo, Yu; Liu, ZengZeng; Feng, Xueming; Lu, Bingheng

2018-06-01

This work presents an economic and controllable fabricating method of high numerical aperture (NA) polymer microlens array (MLA) based on ink-jetting technology. The MLAs are ink-jetted to align on micro platforms patterned flexible PDMS substrate. The shape of a sole lens is constructed by the ink-jetted pre-cured polymer volume confined on a micro platform. In this way, MLAs with targeted geometries-as well as tailored optical characteristics-can be printed, leading to freely designed optical properties. High NA from 0.446 to 0.885 and focal lengths between 99.26 μm and 39.45 μm are demonstrated, confirming theoretical predictions. Particularly, both the simulations and experimental measurements in optical properties are carried out, demonstrating that microlenses with shapes beyond a hemisphere (CA > 90°) exhibits higher light utilization efficiency and wider viewing angle. Meanwhile, the MLAs are fabricated on flexible PDMS substrates and can be attached to other curved surfaces for wider field of view imaging and higher sensitivity.

Inkjet printing for direct micropatterning of a superhydrophobic surface: Toward biomimetic fog harvesting surfaces

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Lianbin

2015-01-01

The preparation of biomimetic superhydrophobic surfaces with hydrophilic micro-sized patterns is highly desirable, but a one-step, mask-free method to produce such surfaces has not previously been reported. We have developed a direct method to produce superhydrophilic micropatterns on superhydrophobic surfaces based on inkjet printing technology. This work was inspired by the efficient fog-harvesting behavior of Stenocara beetles in the Namib Desert. A mussel-inspired ink consisting of an optimized solution of dopamine was applied directly by inkjet printing to superhydrophobic surfaces. Stable Wenzel\\'s microdroplets of the dopamine solution with well-defined micropatterns were obtained on these surfaces. Superhydrophilic micropatterns with well-controlled dimensions were then readily achieved on the superhydrophobic surfaces by the formation of polydopamine via in situ polymerization. The micropatterned superhydrophobic surfaces prepared by this inkjet printing method showed enhanced water collection efficiency compared with uniform superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic surfaces. This method can be used for the facile large-scale patterning of superhydrophobic surfaces with high precision and superior pattern stability and is therefore a key step toward patterning superhydrophobic surfaces for practical applications. This journal is

Modification of inkjet printer for polymer sensitive layer preparation on silicon-based gas sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tianjian Li

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Inkjet printing is a versatile, low cost deposition technology with the capabilities for the localized deposition of high precision, patterned deposition in a programmable way, and the parallel deposition of a variety of materials. This paper demonstrates a new method of modifying the consumer inkjet printer to prepare polymer-sensitive layers on silicon wafer for gas sensor applications. A special printing tray for the modified inkjet printer to support a 4-inch silicon wafer is designed. The positioning accuracy of the deposition system is tested, based on the newly modified printer. The experimental data show that the positioning errors in the horizontal direction are negligibly small, while the positioning errors in the vertical direction rise with the increase of the printing distance of the wafer. The method for making suitable ink to be deposited to form the polymer-sensitive layer is also discussed. In the testing, a solution of 0.1 wt% polyvinyl alcohol (PVA was used as ink to prepare a sensitive layer with certain dimensions at a specific location on the surface of the silicon wafer, and the results prove the feasibility of the methods presented in this article.

Electrode configuration effects on the electrification and voltage variation in an electrostatic inkjet printing head

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Kyung Hyun; Ali, Adnan; Rahman, Ahsan; Malik Mohammad, Nauman; Rahman, Khalid; Khan, Arshad; Khan, Saleem; Kim, D S

2010-01-01

The electrode configuration of an electrostatic inkjet printing head is under study. This paper introduces the development of a new electrostatic inkjet head with an improved electrode configuration as compared to the conventional configuration. Two tungsten electrodes, connected in parallel, are inserted into the electrostatic print head at a certain angle from opposite sides. The aim of this double-side inserted angular electrodes (DSIAEs) head is to intensify the electrification of the fluid inside the head at minimum suitable exposure of the electrode, which results in maximizing surface charge density. The main advantage of the DSIAEs head is to get a very stable meniscus at low applied voltage for printing. This stable meniscus is transformed to a very stable jet by increasing the applied voltage. Therefore, printed patterns obtained with this DSIAEs head are more uniform because of a more stable meniscus and jet as compared to a conventional electrostatic vertically inserted single electrode head. Also, with this DSIAEs configuration, the life of the electrostatic inkjet printing head is increased.

An inkjet printed meandered dipole antenna for RF passive sensing applications

KAUST Repository

Quddious, Abdul; Khan, Munawar M.; Tahir, Farooq A.; Shamim, Atif; Cheema, Hammad M.

2016-01-01

In this paper, a low cost inkjet printed antenna envisioned for integration with printed and non-printed RF sensors is presented. The proposed meandered dipole dual-loop antenna is designed on a 0.25mm thick paper substrate. The antenna not only

Microwave flash sintering of inkjet-printed silver tracks on polymer substrates

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Perelaer, J.; Klokkenburg, M.; Hendriks, C.E.; Schubert, U.S.

2009-01-01

Microwave flash sintering of inkjet printed colloidal silver dispersions on thin polymer substrates was studied as a function of the antenna area and initial resistance. The presence of conductive antennae promotes nanoparticle sintering in predried ink lines. For dried nanoparticle inks connected

O protagonismo do outdoor digital na publicidade: glossy TV e seu impacto publicitário na cidade de Vila Real

OpenAIRE

Silveira, Ivo Daniel

2011-01-01

A presente investigação centra-se no tema da publicidade, colocando o seu enfoque nos outdoors digitais, nomeadamente, o ecrã Glossy Tv que dá o mote a este projeto partindo de uma experiência de implementação de um painel digital na cidade de Vila Real. Através de uma abordagem teórica contextualizada da publicidade, destaca-se algumas das suas características, funções, factores de sucesso e dimensões. Tendo por base um levantamento efectuado, faz-se a apresentação...

Argon plasma sintering of inkjet printed silver tracks on polymer substrates

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reinhold, I.; Hendriks, C.E.; Eckardt, R.; Kranenburg, J.M.; Perelaer, J.; Baumann, R.; Schubert, U.S.

2009-01-01

An alternative and selective sintering method for the fabrication of conductive silver tracks on common polymer substrates is presented, by exposure to low-pressure argon plasma. Inkjet printing has been used to pattern a silver nanoparticle ink. This resulted in conductive features with a

One-step inkjet printing of tungsten oxide-poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulphonate hybrid film and its applications in electrochromic devices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nguyen, Thi-Thuy-Nga, E-mail: thuysnga@gmail.com; Chan, Chih-Yu; He, Ju-Liang

2016-03-31

Hybrid film comprised tungsten oxide and poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulphonate (WO{sub 3}–PEDOT:PSS) was developed by applying one-step inkjet printing from an office inkjet printer. The WO{sub 3} nanoparticles were synthesized from commercial crystalline WO{sub 3} powder through a wet ball-milling process, which is a simple, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective method of using water as a green solvent and low-energy milling. The WO{sub 3}–PEDOT:PSS inkjet ink was prepared by dispersing the as-milled WO{sub 3} and PEDOT:PSS in n-propanol and deionized water. The inkjet-printed WO{sub 3}–PEDOT:PSS thin films show marked improvements of cathodic electrochromism over WO{sub 3} films: the transmittance change of 20% at 550 nm (visible region) and 35% at 900 nm (infrared region) along with the response time of 5.67/0.30 s in their colored/bleached state, and the electrochromic coloration efficiency of 27.86 cm{sup 2}/C at 550 nm and 69.64 cm{sup 2}/C at 900 nm. - Highlights: • WO{sub 3} nanoparticles were synthesized by milling commercial crystalline WO{sub 3}. • Wet ball-milling was carried out by using water as a green solvent and low energy. • WO{sub 3}–PEDOT:PSS hybrid ink was simply prepared by adding n-propanol and DI water. • WO{sub 3}–PEDOT:PSS hybrid films were inkjet-printed via an office inkjet printer. • WO{sub 3}–PEDOT:PSS films show better electrochromic performances than WO{sub 3} films.

Fully inkjet printed wide band cantor fractal antenna for RF energy harvesting application

KAUST Repository

Bakytbekov, Azamat

2017-06-07

Energy harvesting from ambient RF signals is feasible, particularly from the GSM bands such as 900MHz, 1800MHz and the 3G band at 2.1GHz. This requires a wideband receive antenna which can cover all these bands with decent gain performance and an omnidirectional radiation pattern. In this work, a novel Cantor fractal antenna has been designed which fulfills the above mentioned performance requirements. Antenna has been realized through a combination of 3D inkjet printing of plastic substrate and 2D inkjet printing of metallic nanoparticles based ink. The stable impedance and radiation performance of the antenna over a bandwidth of 0.8GHz to 2.2GHz (93 %) shows the feasibility of its employment in wide band energy harvesting applications.

Purification of inkjet ink from water using liquid phase, electric discharge polymerization and cellulosic membrane filtration.

Science.gov (United States)

Jordan, Alexander T; Hsieh, Jeffery S; Lee, Daniel T

2013-01-01

A method to separate inkjet ink from water was developed using a liquid phase, electric discharge process. The liquid phase, electric discharge process with filtration or sedimentation was shown to remove 97% of inkjet ink from solutions containing between 0.1-0.8 g/L and was consistent over a range of treatment conditions. Additionally, particle size analysis of treated allyl alcohol and treated propanol confirmed the electric discharge treatment has a polymerization mechanism, and small molecule analysis of treated methanol using gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy confirmed the mechanism was free radical initiated polymerization.

Bendable transparent conductive meshes based on multi-layer inkjet-printed silver patterns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, Po-Chin; Hong, Chien-Chong; Liou, Tong-Miin

2016-01-01

Many consumer electronics manufacturers have used transparent conductive films in solar cells, LED devices, and touch panels as a medium for simultaneous electric charge transportation and light transmission. The conductivity and transmittance of transparent conductive films greatly affect the efficiency of these optoelectronic devices. This study presents a transparent and conductive mesh based on inkjet-printed silver and conductive polymer. Also, we propose a mathematical model for calculating the optimized mesh pattern. The proposed model precisely calculates an optimized line-width-to-line-spacing ratio. Furthermore, the results of our experiment verify the relationship between the line-width-to-line-spacing ratio and figure of merit. Compared with the equations of past studies, the equation proposed in this study is valid for a broader range of line-width-to-line-spacing ratios. In addition, the theoretical results of our study correlate more strongly with the experimental data of this study than with that of previous studies. To achieve the highest figure of merit, the values of the filling factor and the line-width-to-line-spacing ratio should be 0.05 and 19, respectively. Finally, we reduced the sheet resistance of the inkjet-printed mesh by 97.9% by applying multilayer printing. However, we were able to reduce only the optical transmittance of the mesh by 3.0%. The developed inkjet-printed silver meshes can survive more than 3500 bending tests simultaneous with application of 300 mA current. (paper)

Inkjet printing as a roll-to-roll compatible technology for the production of large area electronic devices on a pre-industrial scale

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Teunissen, P.; Rubingh, E.; Lammeren, T. van; Abbel, R.J.; Groen, P.

2014-01-01

Inkjet printing is a promising approach towards the solution processing of electronic devices on an industrial scale. Of particular interest is the production of high-end applications such as large area OLEDs on flexible substrates. Roll-to-roll (R2R) processing technologies involving inkjet

A paper based inkjet printed real time location tracking TAG

KAUST Repository

Farooqui, Muhammad Fahad

2013-06-01

This paper presents, for the first time, an inkjet printed, wearable, low-cost, light weight and miniaturized real time locating TAG on an ordinary photo-paper. The 29 grams, 9 cm×8 cm×0.5 cm TAG integrates a GPS/GSM module, a microcontroller with on-paper GPS and GSM antennas. A novel monopole antenna with an L shaped slit is introduced to achieve the required circular polarization for the GPS band. Issues related to integration of active components (e.g. BGA chip) on inkjet-printed paper substrates are discussed. The system enables location tracking through a user-friendly interface accessible through all internet enabled devices. Field tests show an update interval of 15 sec, stationary position error of 6.2m and real time tracking error of 4.7m which is 4 times better than the state-of-the-art. Due to the flexible nature of the paper substrate, the TAG can be designed for different shapes such as a wrist band for child tracking or a collar band for pet tracking applications. © 2013 IEEE.

Inkjet Printed Planar Coil Antenna Analysis for NFC Technology Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Ortego

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to examine the potential of inkjet printing technology for the fabrication of Near Field Communication (NFC coil antennas. As inkjet printing technology enables deposition of a different number of layers, an accurate adjustment of the printed conductive tracks thickness is possible. As a consequence, input resistance and Q factor can be finely tuned as long as skin depth is not surpassed while keeping the same inductance levels. This allows the removal of the typical damping resistance present in current NFC inductors. A general methodology including design, simulation, fabrication, and measurement is presented for rectangular, planar-spiral inductors working at 13.56 MHz. Analytical formulas, computed numerical models, and measured results for antenna input impedance are compared. Reflection coefficient is designated as a figure of merit to analyze the correlation among them, which is found to be below −10 dB. The obtained results demonstrate the suitability of this technology in the fabrication of low cost, environmentally friendly NFC coils on flexible substrates.

Inkjet printing of silver citrate conductive ink on PET substrate

Science.gov (United States)

Nie, Xiaolei; Wang, Hong; Zou, Jing

2012-11-01

Direct synthesis of silver conductive film on PET substrate by inkjet printing silver citrate conductive ink was presented in this paper. This kind of conductive ink contained silver citrate as silver precursor, 1,2-diaminopropane as complex agent dissolving the silver salt and methanol and isopropanol as a media adjusting the viscosity and surface tension. The formation of silver-amine complex reduced the decomposition temperature from 180 °C to 135 °C, thus the ink could be cured at relatively low temperature. The film reached the lowest resistivity of 17 μΩ cm after cured at 150 °C for 50 min, 3.1 μΩ cm at 230 °C and possessed high reflection and excellent adhesive property. Electrical conductivity, surface morphology and composition were investigated by four-point probe method, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). It is demonstrated how the cured condition affects the silver film. Moreover, radio-frequency identification (RFID) antenna was fabricated by inkjet printing, which opens up routes for the flexible electronics fabrication.

Local network effects on hygroscopic expansion in digital ink-jet printing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bosco, E.; Peerlings, R.H.J.; Geers, M.G.D.

2016-01-01

Dimensional stability of paper is a key problem in the field of digital ink-jet printing. In the literature, this phenomenon is mostly approached through continuum models representing the overall response of paper. However, if the length scale of the applied wetting is comparable to the

Infiltration of commercially available, anode supported SOFC’s via inkjet printing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mitchell-Williams, T.B.; Tomov, R.I.; Saadabadi, S.A.; Krauz, M.; Purushothaman Vellayani, A.; Glowacki, B.A.; Kumar, R.V.

2017-01-01

Commercially available anode supported solid oxide fuel cells (NiO-8YSZ/8YSZ/LSCF- 20 mm in diameter) were anode infiltrated with gadolinium doped ceria (CGO) using a scalable drop-on-demand inkjet printing process. Cells were infiltrated with two different precursor solutions—water based or

To Investigate the Absorption, Dynamic Contact Angle and Printability Effects of Synthetic Zeolite Pigments in an Inkjet Receptive Coating

Science.gov (United States)

Jalindre, Swaraj Sunil

Ink absorption performance in inkjet receptive coatings containing synthetic zeolite pigments was studied. Coating pigment pore and particle size distribution are the key parameters that influence in modifying media surface properties, thus affecting the rate of ink penetration and drying time (Scholkopf, et al. 2004). The primary objective of this study was: (1) to investigate the synthetic zeolite pigment effects on inkjet ink absorption, dynamic contact angle and printability, and (2) to evaluate these novel synthetic zeolite pigments in replacing the fumed silica pigments in conventional inkjet receptive coatings. In this research study, single pigment coating formulations (in equal P:B ratio) were prepared using microporous synthetic zeolite pigments (5A, Organophilic and 13X) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) binder. The laboratory-coated samples were characterized for absorption, air permeance, roughness, drying time, wettability and print fidelity. Based on the rheological data, it was found that the synthetic zeolite formulated coatings depicted a Newtonian flow behavior at low shear; while the industry accepted fumed silica based coatings displayed a characteristically high pseudoplastic flow behavior. Our coated samples generated using microporous synthetic zeolite pigments produced low absorption, reduced wettability and accelerated ink drying characteristics. These characteristics were caused due to the synthetic zeolite pigments, which resulted in relatively closed surface structure coated samples. The research suggested that no single selected synthetic zeolite coating performed better than the conventional fumed silica based coatings. Experimental data also showed that there was no apparent relationship between synthetic zeolite pigment pore sizes and inkjet ink absorption. For future research, above coated samples should be evaluated for pore size distribution using Mercury Porosimeter, which quantifies surface porosity of coated samples. This presented

Inkjet Printing With In Situ Fast Annealing For Patterned Multilayer Deposition

KAUST Repository

Boulfrad, Samir; Alarousu, Erkki; Da'as, Eman Husni; Jabbour, Ghassan

2013-01-01

Patterned multilayer films, such as those used in electronic devices, solar cells, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), and solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) may be deposited and annealed in a single tool. The tool includes an inkjet printer head, a heater, and a laser. The inkjet printer head deposits on a substrate either suspended particles of a functional material or solvated precursors of a functional material. The head is mounted on a support that allows the head to scan the substrate by moving along the support in a first direction and moving the support along a second direction. After the head deposits the material the heater evaporates solvent from substrate, and the depositing and heating may be repeated one or more times to form a patterned multilayer material. Then, a laser, microwave, and/or Joule effect heating device may be used to anneal the multilayer material to a desired pattern and crystalline state.

Inkjet Printing With In Situ Fast Annealing For Patterned Multilayer Deposition

KAUST Repository

Boulfrad, Samir

2013-12-05

Patterned multilayer films, such as those used in electronic devices, solar cells, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), and solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) may be deposited and annealed in a single tool. The tool includes an inkjet printer head, a heater, and a laser. The inkjet printer head deposits on a substrate either suspended particles of a functional material or solvated precursors of a functional material. The head is mounted on a support that allows the head to scan the substrate by moving along the support in a first direction and moving the support along a second direction. After the head deposits the material the heater evaporates solvent from substrate, and the depositing and heating may be repeated one or more times to form a patterned multilayer material. Then, a laser, microwave, and/or Joule effect heating device may be used to anneal the multilayer material to a desired pattern and crystalline state.

Adjusting inkjet printhead parameters to deposit drugs into micro-sized reservoirs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mau Robert

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Drug delivery systems (DDS ensure that therapeutically effective drug concentrations are delivered locally to the target site. For that reason, it is common to coat implants with a degradable polymer which contains drugs. However, the use of polymers as a drug carrier has been associated with adverse side effects. For that reason, several technologies have been developed to design polymer-free DDS. In literature it has been shown that micro-sized reservoirs can be applied as drug reservoirs. Inkjet techniques are capable of depositing drugs into these reservoirs. In this study, two different geometries of micro-sized reservoirs have been laden with a drug (ASA using a drop-on-demand inkjet printhead. Correlations between the characteristics of the drug solution, the operating parameters of the printhead and the geometric parameters of the reservoir are shown. It is indicated that wettability of the surface play a key role for drug deposition into micro-sized reservoirs.

Synthesis of IGZO ink and study of ink-jet printed IGZO thin films with different Ga concentrations

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Y. K.; Liu, Z.; Wang, X. L.; Ma, W. K.; Chen, Z. H.; Chen, T. P.; Zhang, H. Y.

2017-12-01

By dissolving gallium chloride (GaCl3), indium chloride (InCl3), zinc acetate dihydrate [Zn(OAc)2·2H2O] and monoethanolamine (MEA) into a solvent of 2-methoxyethanol, the IGZO ink was synthesized. Five types of IGZO ink were prepared with different molar ratios of In:Ga:Zn, which can be used for ink-jet printing process. The thermal behaviors of IGZO ink with different formulas were investigated and the ideal annealing temperature for film formation was found to be ∼450 °C. Based on the prepared ink, amorphous IGZO thin films were directly printed on the glass substrate with a FujiFilm Dimatix ink-jet printer, followed by a thermal annealing at 450 °C for 1 h. The surface morphology, crystal structure, optical transmittance, electron mobility and carrier concentration were characterized and investigated. The ink-jet printed amorphous IGZO thin films fabricated in this work can be used as switching medium in flexible resistive random access memory devices.

Complex heterogeneous tissue constructs containing multiple cell types prepared by inkjet printing technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Tao; Zhao, Weixin; Zhu, Jian-Ming; Albanna, Mohammad Z; Yoo, James J; Atala, Anthony

2013-01-01

This study was designed to develop a versatile method for fabricating complex and heterogeneous three-dimensional (3D) tissue constructs using simultaneous ink-jetting of multiple cell types. Human amniotic fluid-derived stem cells (hAFSCs), canine smooth muscle cells (dSMCs), and bovine aortic endothelial cells (bECs), were separately mixed with ionic cross-linker calcium chloride (CaCl(2)), loaded into separate ink cartridges and printed using a modified thermal inkjet printer. The three cell types were delivered layer-by-layer to pre-determined locations in a sodium alginate-collagen composite located in a chamber under the printer. The reaction between CaCl(2) and sodium alginate resulted in a rapid formation of a solid composite gel and the printed cells were anchored in designated areas within the gel. The printing process was repeated for several cycles leading to a complex 3D multi-cell hybrid construct. The biological functions of the 3D printed constructs were evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Each of the printed cell types maintained their viability and normal proliferation rates, phenotypic expression, and physiological functions within the heterogeneous constructs. The bioprinted constructs were able to survive and mature into functional tissues with adequate vascularization in vivo. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of fabricating complex heterogeneous tissue constructs containing multiple cell types using inkjet printing technology. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biological deinking of inkjet-printed paper using Vibrio alginolyticus and its enzymes

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Mohandass, C.; Raghukumar, C.

in their efficiency in decolorizing the pulp. It appears that amylase and lipase effectively help in dislodging the ink particles from the inkjet printed-paper pulp. We hypothesize that the bacterium might be inducing formation of low molecular weight free radicals...

High-Resolution Inkjet-Printed Oxide Thin-Film Transistors with a Self-Aligned Fine Channel Bank Structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qing; Shao, Shuangshuang; Chen, Zheng; Pecunia, Vincenzo; Xia, Kai; Zhao, Jianwen; Cui, Zheng

2018-05-09

A self-aligned inkjet printing process has been developed to construct small channel metal oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) with independent bottom gates on transparent glass substrates. Poly(methylsilsesquioxane) was used to pattern hydrophobic banks on the transparent substrate instead of commonly used self-assembled octadecyltrichlorosilane. Photolithographic exposure from backside using bottom-gate electrodes as mask formed hydrophilic channel areas for the TFTs. IGZO ink was selectively deposited by an inkjet printer in the hydrophilic channel region and confined by the hydrophobic bank structure, resulting in the precise deposition of semiconductor layers just above the gate electrodes. Inkjet-printed IGZO TFTs with independent gate electrodes of 10 μm width have been demonstrated, avoiding completely printed channel beyond the broad of the gate electrodes. The TFTs showed on/off ratios of 10 8 , maximum mobility of 3.3 cm 2 V -1 s -1 , negligible hysteresis, and good uniformity. This method is conductive to minimizing the area of printed TFTs so as to the development of high-resolution printing displays.

Inkjet-printed conductive features for rapid integration of electronic circuits in centrifugal microfluidics

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Kruger, J

2015-05-01

Full Text Available This work investigates the properties of conductive circuits inkjet-printed onto the polycarbonate discs used in CD-based centrifugal microfluidics, contributing towards rapidly prototyped electronic systems in smart ubiquitous biosensors, which...

High-Resolution Graphene Films for Electrochemical Sensing via Inkjet Maskless Lithography.

Science.gov (United States)

Hondred, John A; Stromberg, Loreen R; Mosher, Curtis L; Claussen, Jonathan C

2017-10-24

Solution-phase printing of nanomaterial-based graphene inks are rapidly gaining interest for fabrication of flexible electronics. However, scalable manufacturing techniques for high-resolution printed graphene circuits are still lacking. Here, we report a patterning technique [i.e., inkjet maskless lithography (IML)] to form high-resolution, flexible, graphene films (line widths down to 20 μm) that significantly exceed the current inkjet printing resolution of graphene (line widths ∼60 μm). IML uses an inkjet printed polymer lacquer as a sacrificial pattern, viscous spin-coated graphene, and a subsequent graphene lift-off to pattern films without the need for prefabricated stencils, templates, or cleanroom technology (e.g., photolithography). Laser annealing is employed to increase conductivity on thermally sensitive, flexible substrates [polyethylene terephthalate (PET)]. Laser annealing and subsequent platinum nanoparticle deposition substantially increases the electroactive nature of graphene as illustrated by electrochemical hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) sensing [rapid response (5 s), broad linear sensing range (0.1-550 μm), high sensitivity (0.21 μM/μA), and low detection limit (0.21 μM)]. Moreover, high-resolution, complex graphene circuits [i.e., interdigitated electrodes (IDE) with varying finger width and spacing] were created with IML and characterized via potassium chloride (KCl) electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Results indicated that sensitivity directly correlates to electrode feature size as the IDE with the smallest finger width and spacing (50 and 50 μm) displayed the largest response to changes in KCl concentration (∼21 kΩ). These results indicate that the developed IML patterning technique is well-suited for rapid, solution-phase graphene film prototyping on flexible substrates for numerous applications including electrochemical sensing.

Inkjet-Printed Wideband Antenna on Resin-Coated Paper Substrate for Curved Wireless Devices

KAUST Repository

Abutarboush, Hattan; Farooqui, Muhammad Fahad; Shamim, Atif

2015-01-01

A low-cost, inkjet-printed multiband monopole antenna for conformal wireless applications is presented for the first time. The antenna is implemented on a low cost resin coated paper substrate which can be used for conformal devices. The antenna developed here is composed of four branch lines on the radiator and three L-shaped slots on the ground plane that help to generate multiple bands without increasing the size of the antenna. The antenna has a compact size, making it suitable for handheld and wearable wireless devices. Details of the inkjet printing fabrication processes and related issues are presented. The antennas were characterized under flat and bent conditions and the results indicate that the antennas can cover most bands for mobile and wireless applications such as PCS, UMTS, GSM1900 and WLAN

Inkjet-Printed Wideband Antenna on Resin-Coated Paper Substrate for Curved Wireless Devices

KAUST Repository

Abutarboush, Hattan

2015-04-28

A low-cost, inkjet-printed multiband monopole antenna for conformal wireless applications is presented for the first time. The antenna is implemented on a low cost resin coated paper substrate which can be used for conformal devices. The antenna developed here is composed of four branch lines on the radiator and three L-shaped slots on the ground plane that help to generate multiple bands without increasing the size of the antenna. The antenna has a compact size, making it suitable for handheld and wearable wireless devices. Details of the inkjet printing fabrication processes and related issues are presented. The antennas were characterized under flat and bent conditions and the results indicate that the antennas can cover most bands for mobile and wireless applications such as PCS, UMTS, GSM1900 and WLAN

A flexible inkjet printed inverted-F antenna on textile

KAUST Repository

Karimi, Muhammad Akram; Shamim, Atif

2016-01-01

This is an era of wearable gadgets which demands flexible and wearer friendly wireless components. This paper presents a modified inverted-F antenna (IFA) which has seamlessly been integrated with the fabric through inkjet printing. Surface roughness of the textile has been reduced using a rapid UV curable flexible interface layer. Smooth interface layer helps achieving very fine features which may be required for complicated antenna and circuit traces.

A flexible inkjet printed inverted-F antenna on textile

KAUST Repository

Karimi, Muhammad Akram

2016-12-19

This is an era of wearable gadgets which demands flexible and wearer friendly wireless components. This paper presents a modified inverted-F antenna (IFA) which has seamlessly been integrated with the fabric through inkjet printing. Surface roughness of the textile has been reduced using a rapid UV curable flexible interface layer. Smooth interface layer helps achieving very fine features which may be required for complicated antenna and circuit traces.

Low Cost Inkjet Printed Smart Bandage for Wireless Monitoring of Chronic Wounds

KAUST Repository

Farooqui, Muhammad Fahad

2016-06-29

Chronic wounds affect millions of patients around the world and their treatment is challenging as the early signs indicating their development are subtle. In addition, a type of chronic wound, known as pressure ulcer, develops in patients with limited mobility. Infection and frequent bleeding are indicators of chronic wound development. In this article, we present an unprecedented low cost continuous wireless monitoring system, realized through inkjet printing on a standard bandage, which can send early warnings for the parameters like irregular bleeding, variations in pH levels and external pressure at wound site. In addition to the early warnings, this smart bandage concept can provide long term wound progression data to the health care providers. The smart bandage comprises a disposable part which has the inkjet printed sensors and a reusable part constituting the wireless electronics. This work is an important step towards futuristic wearable sensors for remote health care applications.

Low Cost Inkjet Printed Smart Bandage for Wireless Monitoring of Chronic Wounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Farooqui, Muhammad Fahad; Shamim, Atif

2016-06-29

Chronic wounds affect millions of patients around the world and their treatment is challenging as the early signs indicating their development are subtle. In addition, a type of chronic wound, known as pressure ulcer, develops in patients with limited mobility. Infection and frequent bleeding are indicators of chronic wound development. In this article, we present an unprecedented low cost continuous wireless monitoring system, realized through inkjet printing on a standard bandage, which can send early warnings for the parameters like irregular bleeding, variations in pH levels and external pressure at wound site. In addition to the early warnings, this smart bandage concept can provide long term wound progression data to the health care providers. The smart bandage comprises a disposable part which has the inkjet printed sensors and a reusable part constituting the wireless electronics. This work is an important step towards futuristic wearable sensors for remote health care applications.

Low Cost Inkjet Printed Smart Bandage for Wireless Monitoring of Chronic Wounds

Science.gov (United States)

Farooqui, Muhammad Fahad; Shamim, Atif

2016-06-01

Chronic wounds affect millions of patients around the world and their treatment is challenging as the early signs indicating their development are subtle. In addition, a type of chronic wound, known as pressure ulcer, develops in patients with limited mobility. Infection and frequent bleeding are indicators of chronic wound development. In this article, we present an unprecedented low cost continuous wireless monitoring system, realized through inkjet printing on a standard bandage, which can send early warnings for the parameters like irregular bleeding, variations in pH levels and external pressure at wound site. In addition to the early warnings, this smart bandage concept can provide long term wound progression data to the health care providers. The smart bandage comprises a disposable part which has the inkjet printed sensors and a reusable part constituting the wireless electronics. This work is an important step towards futuristic wearable sensors for remote health care applications.

Low Cost Inkjet Printed Smart Bandage for Wireless Monitoring of Chronic Wounds

KAUST Repository

Farooqui, Muhammad Fahad; Shamim, Atif

2016-01-01

Chronic wounds affect millions of patients around the world and their treatment is challenging as the early signs indicating their development are subtle. In addition, a type of chronic wound, known as pressure ulcer, develops in patients with limited mobility. Infection and frequent bleeding are indicators of chronic wound development. In this article, we present an unprecedented low cost continuous wireless monitoring system, realized through inkjet printing on a standard bandage, which can send early warnings for the parameters like irregular bleeding, variations in pH levels and external pressure at wound site. In addition to the early warnings, this smart bandage concept can provide long term wound progression data to the health care providers. The smart bandage comprises a disposable part which has the inkjet printed sensors and a reusable part constituting the wireless electronics. This work is an important step towards futuristic wearable sensors for remote health care applications.

Characterization of toners and inkjets by laser ablation spectrochemical methods and Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Trejos, Tatiana; Corzo, Ruthmara; Subedi, Kiran; Almirall, José

2014-02-01

Detection and sourcing of counterfeit currency, examination of counterfeit security documents and determination of authenticity of medical records are examples of common forensic document investigations. In these cases, the physical and chemical composition of the ink entries can provide important information for the assessment of the authenticity of the document or for making inferences about common source. Previous results reported by our group have demonstrated that elemental analysis, using either Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) or Laser Ablation Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), provides an effective, practical and robust technique for the discrimination of document substrates and writing inks with minimal damage to the document. In this study, laser-based methods and Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) methods were developed, optimized and validated for the forensic analysis of more complex inks such as toners and inkjets, to determine if their elemental composition can differentiate documents printed from different sources and to associate documents that originated from the same printing source. Comparison of the performance of each of these methods is presented, including the analytical figures of merit, discrimination capability and error rates. Different calibration strategies resulting in semi-quantitative and qualitative analysis, comparison methods (match criteria) and data analysis and interpretation tools were also developed. A total of 27 black laser toners originating from different manufacturing sources and/or batches were examined to evaluate the discrimination capability of each method. The results suggest that SEM-EDS offers relatively poor discrimination capability for this set (~ 70.7% discrimination of all the possible comparison pairs or a 29.3% type II error rate). Nonetheless, SEM-EDS can still be used as a complementary method of analysis since it has

Toward fast and cost-effective ink-jet printing of solid electrolyte for lithium microbatteries

Science.gov (United States)

Delannoy, P.-E.; Riou, B.; Lestriez, B.; Guyomard, D.; Brousse, T.; Le Bideau, J.

2015-01-01

Ink-jet printing of ionogel for low-cost microbattery is presented. Such an approach allows to provide liquid-like electrolyte performances for all-solid microdevices. Ink-jet printing process is possible thanks to sol precursor of the ionogel. This full silica based ionogels confining ionic liquid are known to be thermal resistant, serving safety and technologies requiring solder reflow. High ionic conductivity and compatibility with porous composite electrodes allow reaching good electrochemical cycling performance: full Li-ion cell with LiFePO4 and Li4Ti5O12 porous composite electrodes shows a surface capacity of 300 μAh cm-2 for more than 100 cycles. Such surface capacities are very competitive as compared to those obtained for microdevices based on expensive PVD processes.

A modified consumer inkjet for spatiotemporal control of gene expression.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel J Cohen

Full Text Available This paper presents a low-cost inkjet dosing system capable of continuous, two-dimensional spatiotemporal regulation of gene expression via delivery of diffusible regulators to a custom-mounted gel culture of E. coli. A consumer-grade, inkjet printer was adapted for chemical printing; E. coli cultures were grown on 750 microm thick agar embedded in micro-wells machined into commercial compact discs. Spatio-temporal regulation of the lac operon was demonstrated via the printing of patterns of lactose and glucose directly into the cultures; X-Gal blue patterns were used for visual feedback. We demonstrate how the bistable nature of the lac operon's feedback, when perturbed by patterning lactose (inducer and glucose (inhibitor, can lead to coordination of cell expression patterns across a field in ways that mimic motifs seen in developmental biology. Examples of this include sharp boundaries and the generation of traveling waves of mRNA expression. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of reaction-diffusion effects in the well-studied lac operon. A finite element reaction-diffusion model of the lac operon is also presented which predicts pattern formation with good fidelity.

Inkjet system, method of making this system and use of said system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2005-01-01

An inkjet system including a printhead with an ink-fillable chamber operatively connected to a piezoelectric actuator and provided with a nozzle for the ejection of ink drops in response to the energization of the actuator, which actuator is connected to a measuring circuit for measuring an

Digital power and performance analysis of inkjet printed ring oscillators based on electrolyte-gated oxide electronics

Science.gov (United States)

Cadilha Marques, Gabriel; Garlapati, Suresh Kumar; Dehm, Simone; Dasgupta, Subho; Hahn, Horst; Tahoori, Mehdi; Aghassi-Hagmann, Jasmin

2017-09-01

Printed electronic components offer certain technological advantages over their silicon based counterparts, like mechanical flexibility, low process temperatures, maskless and additive manufacturing possibilities. However, to be compatible to the fields of smart sensors, Internet of Things, and wearables, it is essential that devices operate at small supply voltages. In printed electronics, mostly silicon dioxide or organic dielectrics with low dielectric constants have been used as gate isolators, which in turn have resulted in high power transistors operable only at tens of volts. Here, we present inkjet printed circuits which are able to operate at supply voltages as low as ≤2 V. Our transistor technology is based on lithographically patterned drive electrodes, the dimensions of which are carefully kept well within the printing resolutions; the oxide semiconductor, the electrolytic insulator and the top-gate electrodes have been inkjet printed. Our inverters show a gain of ˜4 and 2.3 ms propagation delay time at 1 V supply voltage. Subsequently built 3-stage ring oscillators start to oscillate at a supply voltage of only 0.6 V with a frequency of ˜255 Hz and can reach frequencies up to ˜350 Hz at 2 V supply voltage. Furthermore, we have introduced a systematic methodology for characterizing ring oscillators in the printed electronics domain, which has been largely missing. Benefiting from this procedure, we are now able to predict the switching capacitance and driver capability at each stage, as well as the power consumption of our inkjet printed ring oscillators. These achievements will be essential for analyzing the performance and power characteristics of future inkjet printed digital circuits.

Application of Inkjet Printing in High-Density Pixelated RGB Quantum Dot-Hybrid LEDs

KAUST Repository

Haverinen, Hanna; Jabbour, Ghassan E.

2012-01-01

to fabricate high-density, pixelated (quarter video graphics array (QVGA) format), monochromatic and RGB quantum dots light-emitting diodes (QDLEDs), where inkjet printing is used to deposit the light-emitting layer of QDs. It shows some of the factors

Inkjet Printing as High-Throughput Technique for the Fabrication of NiCo2O4 Films

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reyna Dianela Bacelis-Martínez

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Owing to its distinctive physicochemical properties, nickel-cobalt mixed oxide (NiCo2O4 has become a promising and innovative material for applications in many technological fields. The design of fast and reliable techniques for the deposition of this material is essential in the development of applications. In this work, NiCo2O4 films were successfully prepared by an inkjet printing technique using a suitable ink obtained from metal nitrates in a glycerol-water mixture. In order to deposit well-defined and uniform film patterns, the instrumental parameters such as drop spacing and inkjet voltage have been explored. The pure crystalline bimetallic nickel cobaltite oxide is obtained at 500°C with a homogeneous compositional distribution along the film. The average thickness observed by scanning electron microscopy is around 490 nm, whereas X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis revealed that the film surface presents mixed oxidation states for both metals: Co2+, Co3+, Ni2+, and Ni3+. The electrocatalytic performance of inkjet-printed NiCo2O4 films for the water oxidation reaction is comparable with earlier reports.

Fabrication of conductive copper patterns using reactive inkjet printing followed by two-step electroless plating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Jin-Ju; Lin, Guo-Qiang; Wang, Yan; Sowade, Enrico; Baumann, Reinhard R.; Feng, Zhe-Sheng

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Copper patterns were fabricated by reactive inkjet printing and two-step electroless plating. • Cu particles produced via reactive inkjet printing act as catalyst for copper electroless plating. • High conductivity can be obtained without many printing passes and high temperature sintering. • This approach can largely avoid nozzle-clogging problems. • This approach presents a potential way in the flexible printed electronics with simple process. - Abstract: A simple and low-cost process for fabricating conductive copper patterns on flexible polyimide substrates was demonstrated. Copper catalyst patterns were first produced on polyimide substrates using reactive inkjet printing of Cu (II)-bearing ink and reducing ink, and then the conductive copper patterns were generated after a two-step electroless plating procedure. The copper layers were characterized by optical microscope, SEM, XRD and EDS. Homogeneously distributed copper nanoclusters were found in the catalyst patterns. A thin copper layer with uniform particle size was formed after first-step electroless plating, and a thick copper layer of about 14.3 μm with closely packed structure and fine crystallinity was produced after second-step electroless plating. This resulting copper layer had good solderability, reliable adhesion strength and a low resistivity of 5.68 μΩ cm without any sintering process.

Fabrication of conductive copper patterns using reactive inkjet printing followed by two-step electroless plating

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, Jin-Ju; Lin, Guo-Qiang; Wang, Yan [State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054 (China); Sowade, Enrico; Baumann, Reinhard R. [Digital Printing and Imaging Technology, Technische Universität Chemnitz, Chemnitz, 09126 (Germany); Feng, Zhe-Sheng, E-mail: fzs@uestc.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054 (China)

2017-02-28

Highlights: • Copper patterns were fabricated by reactive inkjet printing and two-step electroless plating. • Cu particles produced via reactive inkjet printing act as catalyst for copper electroless plating. • High conductivity can be obtained without many printing passes and high temperature sintering. • This approach can largely avoid nozzle-clogging problems. • This approach presents a potential way in the flexible printed electronics with simple process. - Abstract: A simple and low-cost process for fabricating conductive copper patterns on flexible polyimide substrates was demonstrated. Copper catalyst patterns were first produced on polyimide substrates using reactive inkjet printing of Cu (II)-bearing ink and reducing ink, and then the conductive copper patterns were generated after a two-step electroless plating procedure. The copper layers were characterized by optical microscope, SEM, XRD and EDS. Homogeneously distributed copper nanoclusters were found in the catalyst patterns. A thin copper layer with uniform particle size was formed after first-step electroless plating, and a thick copper layer of about 14.3 μm with closely packed structure and fine crystallinity was produced after second-step electroless plating. This resulting copper layer had good solderability, reliable adhesion strength and a low resistivity of 5.68 μΩ cm without any sintering process.

Design, microfabrication, and characterization of a moulded PDMS/SU-8 inkjet dispenser for a Lab-on-a-Printer platform technology with disposable microfluidic chip.

Science.gov (United States)

Bsoul, Anas; Pan, Sheng; Cretu, Edmond; Stoeber, Boris; Walus, Konrad

2016-08-16

In this paper, we present a disposable inkjet dispenser platform technology and demonstrate the Lab-on-a-Printer concept, an extension of the ubiquitous Lab-on-a-Chip concept, whereby microfluidic modules are directly integrated into the printhead. The concept is demonstrated here through the integration of an inkjet dispenser and a microfluidic mixer enabling control over droplet composition from a single nozzle in real-time during printing. The inkjet dispenser is based on a modular design platform that enables the low-cost microfluidic component and the more expensive actuation unit to be easily separated, allowing for the optional disposal of the former and reuse of the latter. To limit satellite droplet formation, a hydrophobic-coated and tapered micronozzle was microfabricated and integrated with the fluidics to realize the dispenser. The microfabricated devices generated droplets with diameters ranging from 150-220 μm, depending mainly on the orifice diameter, with printing rates up to 8000 droplets per second. The inkjet dispenser is capable of dispensing materials with a viscosity up to ∼19 mPa s. As a demonstration of the inkjet dispenser function and application, we have printed type I collagen seeded with human liver carcinoma cells (cell line HepG2), to form patterned biological structures.

Inkjet Assisted Creation of Self-Healing Layers Between Composite Plies

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-29

technology into a prepreg manufacturing process. The approach consisted of depositing novel thermoplastic low-viscosity microdroplets with chemically and...mechanically comparable properties to epoxy matrix in aerospace grade composites onto fiber-reinforced epoxy prepregs before curing using an ink-jet... prepreg Cycom977-2. Double cantilever beam (DCB) and short beam shear (SBS) tests were used to evaluate the self-healing efficiency. It was shown

An inkjet-printed buoyant 3-D lagrangian sensor for real-time flood monitoring

KAUST Repository

Farooqui, Muhammad Fahad; Claudel, Christian G.; Shamim, Atif

2014-01-01

A 3-D (cube-shaped) Lagrangian sensor, inkjet printed on a paper substrate, is presented for the first time. The sensor comprises a transmitter chip with a microcontroller completely embedded in the cube, along with a $1.5 \\lambda 0 dipole

Evaluation of the shape of the specular peak for high glossy surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Obein, Gaël.; Ouarets, Shiraz; Ged, Guillaume

2014-02-01

Gloss is the second most relevant visual attribute of a surface beside its colour. While the colour originates from the wavelength repartition of the reflected light, gloss originates from its angular distribution. When an observer is asked to evaluate the gloss of a surface, he always first orientate his eyes along the specular direction before lightly tilting the examined sample. This means that gloss is located in and around the specular direction, in a peak that is called the specular peak. On the one hand, this peak is flat and broad on matte surfaces on the other hand, it is narrow and sharp on high gloss surfaces. For the late ones, the FWHM of the specular peak is less than 2° which can be quite difficult to measure. We developed a dedicated facility capable of measuring specular peak with a FWHM up to 0,1 °. We measured the evolution of the peak according to the angle of illumination and the specular gloss of the sample in the restricted field of very glossy surface. The facility and peaks measured are presented in the paper. The next step will be to identify the correlations between the peak and the roughness of the sample.

Inkjet printing of novel wideband and high gain antennas on low-cost paper substrate

KAUST Repository

Cook, Benjamin Stassen

2012-09-01

A complete characterization of the inkjet printing process using metallic nanoparticle inks on a paper substrate for microwave frequencies up to 12.5 GHz as well as its application to low-cost, high gain and wideband antenna design are demonstrated in this work. Laser and heat sintering of metallic nanoparticles are compared on paper substrate for the first time which demonstrate immense cost and time benefits of laser sintering. The antennas fabricated using the characterized process include a Vivaldi for the UWB band which exhibits a significantly higher gain of up to 8 dBi as compared to the currently published inkjet printed antennas, and a novel slow-wave log periodic dipole array which employs a new miniaturization technique to show 20% width reduction. © 1963-2012 IEEE.

Inkjet printed ambipolar transistors and inverters based on carbon nanotube/zinc tin oxide heterostructures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Bongjun; Jang, Seonpil; Dodabalapur, Ananth, E-mail: ananth.dodabalapur@engr.utexas.edu [Microelectronics Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78758 (United States); Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 (United States); Geier, Michael L.; Prabhumirashi, Pradyumna L. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208 (United States); Hersam, Mark C. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208 (United States); Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208 (United States); Department of Medicine, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208 (United States)

2014-02-10

We report ambipolar field-effect transistors (FETs) consisting of inkjet printed semiconductor bilayer heterostructures utilizing semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and amorphous zinc tin oxide (ZTO). The bilayer structure allows for electron transport to occur principally in the amorphous oxide layer and hole transport to occur exclusively in the SWCNT layer. This results in balanced electron and hole mobilities exceeding 2 cm{sup 2} V{sup −1} s{sup −1} at low operating voltages (<5 V) in air. We further show that the SWCNT-ZTO hybrid ambipolar FETs can be integrated into functional inverter circuits that display high peak gain (>10). This work provides a pathway for realizing solution processable, inkjet printable, large area electronic devices, and systems based on SWCNT-amorphous oxide heterostructures.

Improving the printing quality of an inkjet printhead using MIMO model predictive control

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ezzeldin Mahdy Abdelmonem, M.; Weiland, S.; Bosch, van den P.P.J.

2011-01-01

Drop-on-Demand inkjet printing is considered one of the most promising printing technologies that offers several advantages including high speed, quiet operation and compatibility with a variety of substrates. That makes it an important manufacturing technology serving a wide variety of markets.

High performance inkjet-printed metal oxide thin film transistors via addition of insulating polymer with proper molecular weight

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Dawei; Chen, Cihai; Zhang, Jun; Wu, Xiaomin; Chen, Huipeng; Guo, Tailiang

2018-01-01

Fabrication of metal oxide thin film transistor (MOTFT) arrays using the inkjet printing process has caused tremendous interest for low-cost and large-area flexible electronic devices. However, the inkjet-printed MOTFT arrays usually exhibited a non-uniform geometry due to the coffee ring effect, which restricted their commercial application. Therefore, in this work, a strategy is reported to control the geometry and enhance device performance of inkjet-printed MOTFT arrays by the addition of an insulating polymer to the precursor solution prior to film deposition. Moreover, the impact of the polymer molecular weight (MW) on the geometry, chemical constitution, crystallization, and MOTFT properties of inkjet-printed metal oxide depositions was investigated. The results demonstrated that with an increase of MW of polystyrene (PS) from 2000 to 200 000, the coffee ring was gradually faded and the coffee ring effect was completely eliminated when MW reached 200 000, which is associated with the enhanced viscosity with the insulating polymer, providing a high resistance to the outward capillary flow, which facilitated the depinning of the contact line, leading to the elimination of the coffee ring. More importantly, the carrier mobility increased significantly from 4.2 cm2 V-1 s-1 up to 13.7 cm2 V-1 s-1 as PS MW increased from 2000 to 200 000, which was about 3 times that of the pristine In2O3 TFTs. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results indicated that PS doping of In2O3 films not only frustrated crystallization but also altered chemical constitution by enhancing the formation of the M-O structure, both of which facilitated the carrier transport. These results demonstrated that the simple polymer additive process provides a promising method that can efficiently control the geometry of MO arrays during inkjet printing and maximize the device performance of MOTFT arrays, which showed great potential for the application in next

Inkjet-Printed In-Ga-Zn Oxide Thin-Film Transistors with Laser Spike Annealing

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Hang; Hu, Hailong; Zhu, Jingguang; Guo, Tailiang

2017-07-01

Inkjet-printed In-Ga-Zn oxide (IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) have been fabricated at low temperature using laser spike annealing (LSA) treatment. Coffee-ring effects during the printing process were eliminated to form uniform IGZO films by simply increasing the concentration of solute in the ink. The impact of LSA on the TFT performance was studied. The field-effect mobility, threshold voltage, and on/off current ratio were greatly influenced by the LSA treatment. With laser scanning at 1 mm/s for 40 times, the 30-nm-thick IGZO TFT baked at 200°C showed mobility of 1.5 cm2/V s, threshold voltage of -8.5 V, and on/off current ratio >106. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of rapid LSA treatment of low-temperature inkjet-printed oxide semiconductor transistors, being comparable to those obtained by conventional high-temperature annealing.

Internet of ''printed'' Things: low-cost fabrication of autonomous sensing nodes by inkjet printing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawahara, Yoshihiro

2014-01-01

''What if electronics devices are printed using an inkjet printer even at home?'' ''What if those devices no longer need a battery?'' I will introduce two enabling technologies for the Internet of Things concept. 1. Instant Inkjet Circuits: A low cost, fast and accessible technology to support the rapid prototyping of electronic devices. We demonstrated that ''sintering-free'' silver nano particle ink with a commodity inkjet printer can be used to fabricate printed circuit board and high-frequency applications such as antennas and sensors. The technology is now commercialized by AgIC, Inc. 2. Wireless Power: Although large amounts of data can be exchanged over a wireless communication link, mobile devices are still tethered by power cables. We are trying to solve this problem by two different approaches: energy harvesting. A simple circuitry comprised of diodes and capacitor can convert ambient radio signals into DC current. Our research revealed the signals from TV tower located 6.5km apart could be used to feed 100 microwatts to power microcontrollers

Generation of micro-sized conductive lines on glass fibre fabrics by inkjet printing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Balda Irurzun, Unai; Dutschk, Victoria; Calvimontes, Alfredo; Akkerman, Remko

2012-01-01

Micro-sized lines were inkjet printed on glass fibre fabrics using different droplet spacing. A conductive ink containing silver nanoparticles was used in this study. Glass fibre fabrics were differently pre-treated to avoid spontaneous spreading of the ink dispersion. The sample topography was

Inkjet printhead performance enhancement by feedforward input design based on two-port modeling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groot Wassink, M.B.

2007-01-01

Inkjet technology is an important key-technology from an industrial point of view. Its ability to deposit various types of materials on a substrate in certain patterns makes it a very versatile technology. Though the performance criteria imposed by today's applications are quite tight already,

Inkjet?Printed Cu2ZnSn(S, Se)4 Solar Cells

OpenAIRE

Lin, Xianzhong; Kavalakkatt, Jaison; Lux?Steiner, Martha Ch.; Ennaoui, Ahmed

2015-01-01

Cu2ZnSn(S, Se)4?based solar cells with total area (0.5 cm2) power conversion efficiency of 6.4% are demonstrated from thin film absorbers processed by inkjet printing technology of Cu?Zn?Sn?S precursor ink followed by selenization. The device performance is limited by the low fill factor, which is due to the high series resistance.

Inkjet-Printed Cu2ZnSn(S, Se)4 Solar Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Xianzhong; Kavalakkatt, Jaison; Lux-Steiner, Martha Ch; Ennaoui, Ahmed

2015-06-01

Cu 2 ZnSn(S, Se) 4 -based solar cells with total area (0.5 cm 2 ) power conversion efficiency of 6.4% are demonstrated from thin film absorbers processed by inkjet printing technology of Cu-Zn-Sn-S precursor ink followed by selenization. The device performance is limited by the low fill factor, which is due to the high series resistance.

A flexible inkjet printed antenna for wearable electronics applications

KAUST Repository

Karimi, Muhammad Akram

2016-11-02

Wearable electronics has gained enormous attention since past few years because it is a promising technology to enhance the human experience. This paper shows a modified inverted-F antenna (IFA), inkjet printed directly on the fabric. A flexible and UV curable interface layer has been used to reduce the surface roughness of the fabric to realize the antenna on top of fabric with fine features. Flexibility tests of the prototype confirm the viability of the design for the wearable applications.

A High Sensitivity Three-Dimensional-Shape Sensing Patch Prepared by Lithography and Inkjet Printing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng-Yao Lo

2012-03-01

Full Text Available A process combining conventional photolithography and a novel inkjet printing method for the manufacture of high sensitivity three-dimensional-shape (3DS sensing patches was proposed and demonstrated. The supporting curvature ranges from 1.41 to 6.24 ´ 10−2 mm−1 and the sensing patch has a thickness of less than 130 μm and 20 ´ 20 mm2 dimensions. A complete finite element method (FEM model with simulation results was calculated and performed based on the buckling of columns and the deflection equation. The results show high compatibility of the drop-on-demand (DOD inkjet printing with photolithography and the interferometer design also supports bi-directional detection of deformation. The 3DS sensing patch can be operated remotely without any power consumption. It provides a novel and alternative option compared with other optical curvature sensors.

Line printing solution-processable small molecules with uniform surface profile via ink-jet printer.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Huimin; Xu, Wei; Tan, Wanyi; Zhu, Xuhui; Wang, Jian; Peng, Junbiao; Cao, Yong

2016-03-01

Line printing offers a feasible approach to remove the pixel well structure which is widely used to confine the ink-jet printed solution. In the study, a uniform line is printed by an ink-jet printer. To achieve a uniform surface profile of the printed line, 10vol% low-volatile solvent DMA (3,4-Dimethylanisole) is mixed with high-volatile solvent Pxy (p-xylene) as the solvent. After a solution-processable small molecule is dissolved, the surface tension of DMA solution becomes lower than that of Pxy solution, which creates an inward Marangoni flow during the solvent evaporation. The inward Marangoni flow balances out the outward capillary flow, thereby forming a flat film surface. The line width of the printed line depends on the contact angle of the solution on the hole injection layer. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparison of filters: Inkjet printed on PEN substrate versus a laser-etched on LCP substrate

KAUST Repository

Arabi, Eyad A.

2014-10-01

In this paper, microstrip-based bandpass filters on polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) and liquid crystal polymers (LCP) are presented to investigate the performance of filters on ultra-thin substrates. PEN (with a thickness of 120 μm) has been characterized and used for a filter for the first time. In addition to being low cost and transparent, it demonstrates comparable RF performance to LCP. The conductor losses are compared by fabricating filters with inkjet printed lines as well as laser etched copper clad LCP sheets. With 5 layers of inkjet printing, and a curing temperature below 200°C, a final silver thickness of 2 μm and conductivity of 9.6 × 106 S/m are achieved. The designs are investigated at two frequencies, 24 GHz as well as 5 GHz to assess their performance at high and low frequencies respectively. The 24 GHz inkjet printed filter shows an insertion loss of 2 dB, while the 5 GHz design gives an insertion loss of 8 dB. We find that thin substrates have a strong effect on the insertion loss of filters especially as the frequency is reduced. The same design, realized on LCP (thickness of 100 μm) through laser etching, demonstrates a very similar performance, thus verifying this finding. © 2014 European Microwave Association.

Comparison of filters: Inkjet printed on PEN substrate versus a laser-etched on LCP substrate

KAUST Repository

Arabi, Eyad A.; McKerricher, Garret; Shamim, Atif

2014-01-01

In this paper, microstrip-based bandpass filters on polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) and liquid crystal polymers (LCP) are presented to investigate the performance of filters on ultra-thin substrates. PEN (with a thickness of 120 μm) has been characterized and used for a filter for the first time. In addition to being low cost and transparent, it demonstrates comparable RF performance to LCP. The conductor losses are compared by fabricating filters with inkjet printed lines as well as laser etched copper clad LCP sheets. With 5 layers of inkjet printing, and a curing temperature below 200°C, a final silver thickness of 2 μm and conductivity of 9.6 × 106 S/m are achieved. The designs are investigated at two frequencies, 24 GHz as well as 5 GHz to assess their performance at high and low frequencies respectively. The 24 GHz inkjet printed filter shows an insertion loss of 2 dB, while the 5 GHz design gives an insertion loss of 8 dB. We find that thin substrates have a strong effect on the insertion loss of filters especially as the frequency is reduced. The same design, realized on LCP (thickness of 100 μm) through laser etching, demonstrates a very similar performance, thus verifying this finding. © 2014 European Microwave Association.

Cell patterning through inkjet printing of one cell per droplet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamaguchi, Shuichi; Akiyama, Yoshitake; Morishima, Keisuke; Ueno, Akira

2012-01-01

The inkjet ejection technology used in printers has been adopted and research has been conducted on manufacturing artificial tissue by patterning cells through micronozzle ejection of small droplets containing multiple cells. However, stable injection of cells has proven difficult, owing to the frequent occurrence of nozzle clogging. In this paper, a piezoelectric inkjet head constructed with a glass capillary that enabled viewing of the nozzle section was developed, the movement of cells ejected from the nozzle tip was analyzed, and a method for stably ejecting cells was verified. A pull–push ejection method was compared with a push–pull ejection method regarding the voltage waveform applied to the piezoelectric element of the head. The push–pull method was found to be more suitable for stable ejection. Further, ejection of one cell per droplet was realized by detecting the position of the cell in the nozzle section and utilizing these position data. Thus, a method for more precise patterning of viable cells at desired position and number was established. This method is very useful and promising not only for biofabrication, 3D tissue construction, cell printing, but also for a number of biomedical application, such as bioMEMS, lab on a chip research field. (paper)

Inkjet printing of UV-curable adhesive and dielectric inks for microfluidic devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamad, E M; Bilatto, S E R; Adly, N Y; Correa, D S; Wolfrum, B; Schöning, M J; Offenhäusser, A; Yakushenko, A

2016-01-07

Bonding of polymer-based microfluidics to polymer substrates still poses a challenge for Lab-On-a-Chip applications. Especially, when sensing elements are incorporated, patterned deposition of adhesives with curing at ambient conditions is required. Here, we demonstrate a fabrication method for fully printed microfluidic systems with sensing elements using inkjet and stereolithographic 3D-printing.

Formation and Characterization of Inkjet-Printed Nanosilver Lines on Plasma-Treated Glass Substrates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jae-Sung Kwon

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In this study, we investigated geometrical characteristics of the inkjet-printed lines with non-zero receding contact angle (CA on plasma-treated substrates in terms of various printing variables and analyzed the fluidic behavior and hydrodynamic instability involved in the line formation process. The printing variables included surface energy, droplet overlap ratio, printing frequency, a number of ink droplets, substrate temperature and printing procedures. For the study, a colloidal suspension containing 56 wt % silver nanoparticles in tetradecane solvent was used as a printing ink. It has electrical resistivity of 4.7 μΩ·cm. The substrates were obtained by performing a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD process with C4F8 and O2 under various treatment conditions. As results of the experiments, the surface shape and pattern of the inkjet-printed Ag lines were dominantly influenced by the surface energy of the substrates, among the printing variables. Accordingly even when the receding CA was non-zero, bulging instability of the lines occurred forming separate circular patterns or regular bulges connected by ridges. It is a new finding of this study, which is completely different with the bulging instability of inkjet lines with zero receding CA specified by previous researches. The bulging instability decreased by increasing surface temperature of the substrates or employing interlacing procedure instead of continuous procedure for printing. The interlacing procedure also was advantageous to fabricate thick and narrow Ag lines with well-defined shape through overprinting on a hydrophobic substrate. These results will contribute greatly to not only the production of various printed electronics containing high-aspect-ratio structures but also the improvement of working performance of the devices.

Alternative sintering methods compared to conventional thermal sintering for inkjet printed silver nanoparticle ink

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Niittynen, J.; Abbel, R.; Mäntysalo, M.; Perelaer, J.; Schubert, U.S.; Lupo, D.

2014-01-01

In this contribution several alternative sintering methods are compared to traditional thermal sintering as high temperature and long process time of thermal sintering are increasing the costs of inkjet-printing and preventing the use of this technology in large scale manufacturing. Alternative

Controllable Impregnation Via Inkjet Printing for the Fabrication of Solid Oxide Cell Air Electrodes

KAUST Repository

Da'as, E. H.

2013-10-07

The impregnation method has been considered as one of the most successful techniques for the fabrication of highly efficient electrodes for solid oxide fuel and electrolysis cells (SOCs) at the lab scale. However, because the impregnation is usually performed manually, its irreproducibility remains a major problem that can be solved by using controllable techniques, such as inkjet printing. In this paper, lanthanum strontium manganite (LSM)/yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) air electrodes were prepared by infiltrating YSZ porous bodies with LSM precursor solution using inkjet printing, followed by annealing at 800°C for 2 hours. XRD analysis confirmed the formation of the LSM phase, which was in the form of nanoparticles with size in the 50-70 nm range on the YSZ walls, as revealed by FEG-SEM observations. The effect of printing parameters on the distribution of the impregnated phase was investigated and discussed.

Controllable Impregnation Via Inkjet Printing for the Fabrication of Solid Oxide Cell Air Electrodes

KAUST Repository

Da'as, E. H.; Irvine, J. T. S.; Traversa, Enrico; Boulfrad, S.

2013-01-01

The impregnation method has been considered as one of the most successful techniques for the fabrication of highly efficient electrodes for solid oxide fuel and electrolysis cells (SOCs) at the lab scale. However, because the impregnation is usually performed manually, its irreproducibility remains a major problem that can be solved by using controllable techniques, such as inkjet printing. In this paper, lanthanum strontium manganite (LSM)/yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) air electrodes were prepared by infiltrating YSZ porous bodies with LSM precursor solution using inkjet printing, followed by annealing at 800°C for 2 hours. XRD analysis confirmed the formation of the LSM phase, which was in the form of nanoparticles with size in the 50-70 nm range on the YSZ walls, as revealed by FEG-SEM observations. The effect of printing parameters on the distribution of the impregnated phase was investigated and discussed.

Inkjet Impregnation for Tailoring Air Electrode Microstructure to Improve Solid Oxide Cells Performance

KAUST Repository

Da’as, Eman H.

2015-09-30

The urge to lower the operating temperature of solid oxide cells (SOCs) to the intermediate ranges between 500-700°C motivated the research into impregnation processes, which offer highly efficient SOC air electrodes at low operating temperatures. Lack of controllability and reproducibility of this technique in the conventional way is still considered as an inadequacy for industrialization since it is performed manually. Therefore, inkjet-printing technology was proposed as an adequate approach to perform scalable and controllable impregnation for SOC air electrodes, which in turn leads to low operating temperatures. Composite LSM-ionic conductive air electrodes of weight ratio 1:2 were fabricated by inkjet impregnation of lanthanum strontium manganite (La0.8Sr0.2MnO3) precursor nitrates onto a porous ionic conductive backbone structure. First, porous yttria stabilized zirconia (8YSZ) substrates prepared by tape casting were used to study the influence of the printing parameters on the lateral dispersion and penetration of LSM ink inside the pores. XRD analysis confirmed the formation of LSM phase after calcination at 800°C for 2 h, while SEM revealed the formation of LSM nanostructures. It has been found by optical microscope observations that the spacing between the drops and the substrate temperature have a significant role in controlling the printing process. Next, the optimized printing parameters were applied in the inkjet impregnation of the LSM ink into porous YSZ electrodes that were spin coated on both sides of dense YSZ layers. LSM-YSZ composite air electrodes achieved an area specific resistance (ASR) of around 0.29 Ω.cm2 at 700°C. The performance of LSM-YSZ composite electrodes was influenced by the microstructure and the thickness, and by the electrode/electrolyte interface characteristics. As a result, the enhancement in LSM-YSZ composite electrode performance was observed due to the better percolation in LSM, YSZ and oxygen diffusion. Finally

Wide frequency independently controlled dual-band inkjet-printed antenna

KAUST Repository

AbuTarboush, Hattan F.

2014-01-08

A low-cost inkjet-printed multiband monopole antenna is presented. The unique advantage of the proposed antenna is the freedom to adjust and set the dual-band of the antenna independently over a wide range (148.83%). To demonstrate the independent control feature, the 2.4 and 3.4 GHz bands for the wireless local area network (WLAN) and worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) applications are selected as an example. The measured impedance bandwidths for the 2.4 and 3.4 GHz are 15.2 and 23.7%, respectively. These dual-bands have the ability to be controlled independently between 1.1 and 7.5 GHz without affecting the other band. In addition, the proposed antenna can be assigned for different mobile and wireless applications such as GPS, PCS, GSM 1800, 1900, UMTS, and up to 5-GHz WLAN and WiMAX applications. The mechanism of independent control of each radiator through dimensional variation is discussed in detail. The antenna has a compact size of 10 × 37.3 × 0.44 mm3, leaving enough space for the driving electronics on the paper substrate. The measured results from the prototype are in good agreement with the simulated results. Owing to inkjet printing on an ordinary paper, the design is extremely light weight and highly suitable for low cost and large volume manufacturing. © The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2013.

Iterative learning control with basis functions for media positioning in scanning inkjet printers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bolder, J.J.; Lemmen, B.P.; Koekebakker, S.H.; Oomen, T.A.E.; Bosgra, O.H.; Steinbuch, M.

2012-01-01

In printing systems, the positioning accuracy of the medium with respect to the print heads directly impacts print quality. In a regular document inkjet printer, the main task of the media positioning drive is to shift the medium after the printhead has finished a pass. Most media have the tendency

Inkjet Printing of Functional and Structural Materials: Fluid Property Requirements, Feature Stability, and Resolution

Science.gov (United States)

Derby, Brian

2010-08-01

Inkjet printing is viewed as a versatile manufacturing tool for applications in materials fabrication in addition to its traditional role in graphics output and marking. The unifying feature in all these applications is the dispensing and precise positioning of very small volumes of fluid (1-100 picoliters) on a substrate before transformation to a solid. The application of inkjet printing to the fabrication of structures for structural or functional materials applications requires an understanding as to how the physical processes that operate during inkjet printing interact with the properties of the fluid precursors used. Here we review the current state of understanding of the mechanisms of drop formation and how this defines the fluid properties that are required for a given liquid to be printable. The interactions between individual drops and the substrate as well as between adjacent drops are important in defining the resolution and accuracy of printed objects. Pattern resolution is limited by the extent to which a liquid drop spreads on a substrate and how spreading changes with the overlap of adjacent drops to form continuous features. There are clearly defined upper and lower bounds to the width of a printed continuous line, which can be defined in terms of materials and process variables. Finer-resolution features can be achieved through appropriate patterning and structuring of the substrate prior to printing, which is essential if polymeric semiconducting devices are to be fabricated. Low advancing and receding contact angles promote printed line stability but are also more prone to solute segregation or “coffee staining” on drying.

Inkjet printing of novel wideband and high gain antennas on low-cost paper substrate

KAUST Repository

Cook, Benjamin Stassen; Shamim, Atif

2012-01-01

for the UWB band which exhibits a significantly higher gain of up to 8 dBi as compared to the currently published inkjet printed antennas, and a novel slow-wave log periodic dipole array which employs a new miniaturization technique to show 20% width reduction

Inkjet-printed thin film radio-frequency capacitors based on sol-gel derived alumina dielectric ink

KAUST Repository

McKerricher, Garret; Maller, Robert; Vaseem, Mohammad; McLachlan, Martyn A.; Shamim, Atif

2017-01-01

passive electronics. The ability to spatially pattern high quality Al2O3 thin films using, for example, inkjet printing would tremendously simplify the incumbent fabrication processes – significantly reducing cost and allowing for the development of large

Full densification of inkjet-printed copper conductive tracks on a flexible substrate utilizing a hydrogen plasma sintering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kwon, Young-Tae [Department of Fusion Chemical Engineering, Hanyang University, Ansan 15588 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Young-In [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Seoul 01811 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Seil [Department of Fusion Chemical Engineering, Hanyang University, Ansan 15588 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Kun-Jae [Department of Energy Engineering, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116 (Korea, Republic of); Choa, Yong-Ho, E-mail: choa15@hanyang.ac.kr [Department of Fusion Chemical Engineering, Hanyang University, Ansan 15588 (Korea, Republic of)

2017-02-28

Highlights: • Hydrogen thermally- and plasma- treatments are applied to reduce and sinter the inkjet-printed copper patterns at low temperature. • Plasma sintered Cu patterns have fully densified microstructure with the resistivity of 3.23 μW cm. • Cu conductive track with dense microstructure remains its electrical resistivity after 1 month. • Thermal sintered Cu patterns show a relatively poor microstructure and high resistivity. - Abstract: Low temperature sintering techniques are crucial in developing flexible printed electronics. In this work, we demonstrate a novel hydrogen plasma sintering method that achieves a full reduction and densification of inkjet-printed patterns using a copper complex ion ink. After inkjet printing on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates, both hydrogen plasma and conventional hydrogen thermal treatment were employed to compare the resulting microstructures, electrical properties and anti-oxidation behavior. The plasma treated pattern shows a fully densified microstructure with a resistivity of 3.23 μΩ cm, while the thermally treated pattern shows a relatively poor microstructure and high resistivity. In addition, the hydrogen plasma-treated copper pattern retains its electrical resistivity for one month without any significant decrease. This novel hydrogen plasma sintering technique could be used to produce conductive patterns with excellent electrical properties, allowing for highly reliable flexible printed electronics.

Inkjet printing as a technique for filling of micro-wells with biocompatible polymers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marizza, Paolo; Keller, Stephan Sylvest; Boisen, Anja

2013-01-01

We present an innovative technique to dispense precise amounts of polymer solutions into large arrays of microscopic wells. An inkjet printer (NP 2.1 GeSim, Germany) is used to fill micro-wells with poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP K10). The micro-wells are fabricated with cavity diameters of 300 μm...

Characterization of toners and inkjets by laser ablation spectrochemical methods and Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trejos, Tatiana; Corzo, Ruthmara; Subedi, Kiran; Almirall, José

2014-01-01

Detection and sourcing of counterfeit currency, examination of counterfeit security documents and determination of authenticity of medical records are examples of common forensic document investigations. In these cases, the physical and chemical composition of the ink entries can provide important information for the assessment of the authenticity of the document or for making inferences about common source. Previous results reported by our group have demonstrated that elemental analysis, using either Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) or Laser Ablation Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), provides an effective, practical and robust technique for the discrimination of document substrates and writing inks with minimal damage to the document. In this study, laser-based methods and Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) methods were developed, optimized and validated for the forensic analysis of more complex inks such as toners and inkjets, to determine if their elemental composition can differentiate documents printed from different sources and to associate documents that originated from the same printing source. Comparison of the performance of each of these methods is presented, including the analytical figures of merit, discrimination capability and error rates. Different calibration strategies resulting in semi-quantitative and qualitative analysis, comparison methods (match criteria) and data analysis and interpretation tools were also developed. A total of 27 black laser toners originating from different manufacturing sources and/or batches were examined to evaluate the discrimination capability of each method. The results suggest that SEM-EDS offers relatively poor discrimination capability for this set (∼ 70.7% discrimination of all the possible comparison pairs or a 29.3% type II error rate). Nonetheless, SEM-EDS can still be used as a complementary method of analysis since it has

Characterization of toners and inkjets by laser ablation spectrochemical methods and Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Trejos, Tatiana, E-mail: trejost@fiu.edu; Corzo, Ruthmara, E-mail: rcorz001@fiu.edu; Subedi, Kiran, E-mail: ksube001@fiu.edu; Almirall, José, E-mail: almirall@fiu.edu

2014-02-01

Detection and sourcing of counterfeit currency, examination of counterfeit security documents and determination of authenticity of medical records are examples of common forensic document investigations. In these cases, the physical and chemical composition of the ink entries can provide important information for the assessment of the authenticity of the document or for making inferences about common source. Previous results reported by our group have demonstrated that elemental analysis, using either Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) or Laser Ablation Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), provides an effective, practical and robust technique for the discrimination of document substrates and writing inks with minimal damage to the document. In this study, laser-based methods and Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) methods were developed, optimized and validated for the forensic analysis of more complex inks such as toners and inkjets, to determine if their elemental composition can differentiate documents printed from different sources and to associate documents that originated from the same printing source. Comparison of the performance of each of these methods is presented, including the analytical figures of merit, discrimination capability and error rates. Different calibration strategies resulting in semi-quantitative and qualitative analysis, comparison methods (match criteria) and data analysis and interpretation tools were also developed. A total of 27 black laser toners originating from different manufacturing sources and/or batches were examined to evaluate the discrimination capability of each method. The results suggest that SEM-EDS offers relatively poor discrimination capability for this set (∼ 70.7% discrimination of all the possible comparison pairs or a 29.3% type II error rate). Nonetheless, SEM-EDS can still be used as a complementary method of analysis since it has

Temperature sensor realized by inkjet printing process on flexible substrate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dankoco, M.D.; Tesfay, G.Y.; Benevent, E.; Bendahan, M.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Flexible temperature sensor was realized by inkjet printing process on Kapton substrate. • The jetting parameters were optimized to obtain evenly distributed silver coating layers and a large meander forming the sensor. • The Temperature sensor studied offers a good sensitivity, a good linearity and less than 5% hysteresis in extended measurement in the range of 20–60 °C. - Abstract: The objective of this study is to realize a printed and flexible temperature sensor to achieve surface temperature measurement of the human body. The sensor is a thermistor composed silver (Ag) deposited on a Polyimide substrate (Kapton HN). The meander was patterned by inkjet printing with a drop-on-demand Jetlab4 (Microfab Technologies Inc.). The resistance temperature coefficients have been studied in the temperature range of 20–60 °C with a range of voltage between 0 and 1 V. The stability versus time has also been measured without a sensor layer protection. The sensitive area of the sensor, silver lines width and the gap between the electrical conductors were, respectively 6.2 cm 2 , 300 μm, 60 μm. The mean temperature sensor sensitivity found was 2.23 × 10 −3 °C −1 . The results show a good linearity and less than 5% hysteresis in the extended measurement.

Rapid wasted-free microfluidic fabrication based on ink-jet approach for microfluidic sensing applications

Science.gov (United States)

Jarujareet, Ungkarn; Amarit, Rattasart; Sumriddetchkajorn, Sarun

2016-11-01

Realizing that current microfluidic chip fabrication techniques are time consuming and labor intensive as well as always have material leftover after chip fabrication, this research work proposes an innovative approach for rapid microfluidic chip production. The key idea relies on a combination of a widely-used inkjet printing method and a heat-based polymer curing technique with an electronic-mechanical control, thus eliminating the need of masking and molds compared to typical microfluidic fabrication processes. In addition, as the appropriate amount of polymer is utilized during printing, there is much less amount of material wasted. Our inkjet-based microfluidic printer can print out the desired microfluidic chip pattern directly onto a heated glass surface, where the printed polymer is suddenly cured. Our proof-of-concept demonstration for widely-used single-flow channel, Y-junction, and T-junction microfluidic chips shows that the whole microfluidic chip fabrication process requires only 3 steps with a fabrication time of 6 minutes.

Inkjet Printing Based Mono-layered Photonic Crystal Patterning for Anti-counterfeiting Structural Colors

Science.gov (United States)

Nam, Hyunmoon; Song, Kyungjun; Ha, Dogyeong; Kim, Taesung

2016-01-01

Photonic crystal structures can be created to manipulate electromagnetic waves so that many studies have focused on designing photonic band-gaps for various applications including sensors, LEDs, lasers, and optical fibers. Here, we show that mono-layered, self-assembled photonic crystals (SAPCs) fabricated by using an inkjet printer exhibit extremely weak structural colors and multiple colorful holograms so that they can be utilized in anti-counterfeit measures. We demonstrate that SAPC patterns on a white background are covert under daylight, such that pattern detection can be avoided, but they become overt in a simple manner under strong illumination with smartphone flash light and/or on a black background, showing remarkable potential for anti-counterfeit techniques. Besides, we demonstrate that SAPCs yield different RGB histograms that depend on viewing angles and pattern densities, thus enhancing their cryptographic capabilities. Hence, the structural colorations designed by inkjet printers would not only produce optical holograms for the simple authentication of many items and products but also enable a high-secure anti-counterfeit technique. PMID:27487978

Application of Inkjet Printing in High-Density Pixelated RGB Quantum Dot-Hybrid LEDs

KAUST Repository

Haverinen, Hanna

2012-05-23

Recently, an intriguing solution to obtain better color purity has been to introduce inorganic emissive quantum dots (QDs) into an otherwise OLED structure. The emphasis of this chapter is to present a simple discussion of the first attempts to fabricate high-density, pixelated (quarter video graphics array (QVGA) format), monochromatic and RGB quantum dots light-emitting diodes (QDLEDs), where inkjet printing is used to deposit the light-emitting layer of QDs. It shows some of the factors that have to be considered in order to achieve the desired accuracy and printing quality. The successful operation of the RGB printed devices indicates the potential of the inkjet printing approach in the fabrication of full-color QDLEDs for display application. However, further optimization of print quality is still needed in order to eliminate the formation of pinholes, thus maximizing energy transfer from organic layers to the QDs and in turn increasing the performance of the devices. Controlled Vocabulary Terms: ink jet printing; LED displays; LED lamps; organic light emitting diodes; quantum dots

Properties of polyacrylic acid-coated silver nanoparticle ink for inkjet printing conductive tracks on paper with high conductivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Qijin; Shen, Wenfeng; Xu, Qingsong; Tan, Ruiqin; Song, Weijie

2014-01-01

Silver nanoparticles with a mean diameter of approximately 30 nm were synthesized by reduction of silver nitrate with triethanolamine in the presence of polyacrylic acid. Silver nanoparticle-based ink was prepared by dispersing silver nanoparticles into a mixture of water and ethylene glycol. The mechanism for the dispersion and aggregation of silver nanoparticles in ink is discussed. The strong electrostatic repulsions of the carboxylate anions of the adsorbed polyacrylic acid molecules disturbed the aggregation of metal particles in solutions with a high pH value (pH > 5). An inkjet printer was used to deposit this silver nanoparticle-based ink to form silver patterns on photo paper. The actual printing qualities of the silver tracks were then analyzed by variation of printing passes, sintering temperature and time. The results showed that sintering temperature and time are associated strongly with the conductivity of the inkjet-printed conductive patterns. The conductivity of printed patterns sintered at 150 °C increased to 2.1 × 10 7  S m −1 , which was approximately one third that of bulk silver. In addition, silver tracks on paper substrate also showed better electrical performance after folding. This study demonstrated that the resulting ink-jet printed patterns can be used as conductive tracks in flexible electronic devices. - Highlights: • An ink from silver nanoparticles coated with polyacrylic acid was prepared. • The ink was used for inkjet-printed tracks at varying printing parameters. • The conductivity of printed tracks sintered at 150 °C increased to 2.1 × 10 7  S/m. • Mechanism for dispersion and aggregation of the nanoparticles in ink is discussed

Properties of polyacrylic acid-coated silver nanoparticle ink for inkjet printing conductive tracks on paper with high conductivity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang, Qijin [Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315201 (China); Shen, Wenfeng, E-mail: wfshen@nimte.ac.cn [Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315201 (China); Xu, Qingsong [Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315201 (China); Tan, Ruiqin [Faculty of Information Science and Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315211 (China); Song, Weijie, E-mail: weijiesong@nimte.ac.cn [Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315201 (China)

2014-10-15

Silver nanoparticles with a mean diameter of approximately 30 nm were synthesized by reduction of silver nitrate with triethanolamine in the presence of polyacrylic acid. Silver nanoparticle-based ink was prepared by dispersing silver nanoparticles into a mixture of water and ethylene glycol. The mechanism for the dispersion and aggregation of silver nanoparticles in ink is discussed. The strong electrostatic repulsions of the carboxylate anions of the adsorbed polyacrylic acid molecules disturbed the aggregation of metal particles in solutions with a high pH value (pH > 5). An inkjet printer was used to deposit this silver nanoparticle-based ink to form silver patterns on photo paper. The actual printing qualities of the silver tracks were then analyzed by variation of printing passes, sintering temperature and time. The results showed that sintering temperature and time are associated strongly with the conductivity of the inkjet-printed conductive patterns. The conductivity of printed patterns sintered at 150 °C increased to 2.1 × 10{sup 7} S m{sup −1}, which was approximately one third that of bulk silver. In addition, silver tracks on paper substrate also showed better electrical performance after folding. This study demonstrated that the resulting ink-jet printed patterns can be used as conductive tracks in flexible electronic devices. - Highlights: • An ink from silver nanoparticles coated with polyacrylic acid was prepared. • The ink was used for inkjet-printed tracks at varying printing parameters. • The conductivity of printed tracks sintered at 150 °C increased to 2.1 × 10{sup 7} S/m. • Mechanism for dispersion and aggregation of the nanoparticles in ink is discussed.

Entrapped air bubbles in piezo-driven inkjet printing: their effect on the droplet velocity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jong, de J.; Jeurissen, R.J.M.; Borel, H.; Berg, van den M.; Versluis, M.; Wijshoff, H.M.A.; Prosperetti, A.; Reinten, H.; Lohse, D.

2006-01-01

Air bubbles entrapped in the ink channel are a major problem in piezo-driven inkjet printing. They grow by rectified diffusion and eventually counteract the pressure buildup at the nozzle, leading to a breakdown of the jetting process. Experimental results on the droplet velocity udrop as a function

Entrapped air bubbles in piezo-driven inkjet printing: Their effect on the droplet velocity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Jong, J.; Jeurissen, R.J.M.; Borel, Huub; van den Berg, Marc; Wijshoff, Herman; Versluis, Michel; Wijshoff, H.; Reinten, Hans; Prosperetti, Andrea; Lohse, Detlef

2006-01-01

Air bubbles entrapped in the ink channel are a major problem in piezo-driven inkjet printing. They grow by rectified diffusion and eventually counteract the pressure buildup at the nozzle, leading to a breakdown of the jetting process. Experimental results on the droplet velocity udrop as a function

Inkjet printed large-area flexible circuits: a simple methodology for optimizing the printing quality

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Tao; Wu, Youwei; Shen, Xiaoqin; Lai, Wenyong; Huang, Wei

2018-01-01

In this work, a simple methodology was developed to enhance the patterning resolution of inkjet printing, involving process optimization as well as substrate modification and treatment. The line width of the inkjet-printed silver lines was successfully reduced to 1/3 of the original value using this methodology. Large-area flexible circuits with delicate patterns and good morphology were thus fabricated. The resultant flexible circuits showed excellent electrical conductivity as low as 4.5 Ω/□ and strong tolerance to mechanical bending. The simple methodology is also applicable to substrates with various wettability, which suggests a general strategy to enhance the printing quality of inkjet printing for manufacturing high-performance large-area flexible electronics. Project supported by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (Nos. 2014CB648300, 2017YFB0404501), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21422402, 21674050), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Nos. BK20140060, BK20130037, BK20140865, BM2012010), the Program for Jiangsu Specially-Appointed Professors (No. RK030STP15001), the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (No. NCET-13-0872), the NUPT "1311 Project" and Scientific Foundation (Nos. NY213119, NY213169), the Synergetic Innovation Center for Organic Electronics and Information Displays, the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD), the Leading Talent of Technological Innovation of National Ten-Thousands Talents Program of China, the Excellent Scientific and Technological Innovative Teams of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (No. TJ217038), the Program for Graduate Students Research and Innovation of Jiangsu Province (No. KYZZ16-0253), and the 333 Project of Jiangsu Province (Nos. BRA2017402, BRA2015374).

Indirect X-ray Detectors Based on Inkjet-Printed Photodetectors with a Screen-Printed Scintillator Layer.

Science.gov (United States)

Oliveira, Juliana; Correia, Vitor; Sowade, Enrico; Etxebarria, Ikerne; Rodriguez, Raul D; Mitra, Kalyan Y; Baumann, Reinhard R; Lanceros-Mendez, Senentxu

2018-04-18

Organic photodetectors (PDs) based on printing technologies will allow to expand the current field of PD applications toward large-area and flexible applications in areas such as medical imaging, security, and quality control, among others. Inkjet printing is a powerful digital tool for the deposition of smart and functional materials on various substrates, allowing the development of electronic devices such as PDs on various substrates. In this work, inkjet-printed PD arrays, based on the organic thin-film transistor architecture, have been developed and applied for the indirect detection of X-ray radiation using a scintillator ink as an X-ray absorber. The >90% increase of the photocurrent of the PDs under X-ray radiation, from about 53 nA without the scintillator film to about 102 nA with the scintillator located on top of the PD, proves the suitability of the developed printed device for X-ray detection applications.

Formation of radial aligned and uniform nematic liquid crystal droplets via drop-on-demand inkjet printing into a partially-wet polymer layer

Science.gov (United States)

Parry, Ellis; Kim, Dong-Jin; Castrejón-Pita, Alfonso A.; Elston, Steve J.; Morris, Stephen M.

2018-06-01

This paper investigates the drop-on-demand inkjet printing of a nematic liquid crystal (LC) onto a variety of substrates. Achieving both a well-defined droplet boundary and uniformity of the LC director in printed droplets can be challenging when traditional alignment surfaces are employed. Despite the increasing popularity of inkjet printing LCs, the mechanisms that are involved during the deposition process such as drop impact, wetting and spreading have received very little attention, in the way of experiments, as viable routes for promoting alignment of the resultant LC droplets. In this work, radial alignment of the director and uniformity of the droplet boundary are achieved in combination via the use of a partially-wet polymer substrate, which makes use of the forces and flow generated during droplet impact and subsequent wetting process. Our findings could have important consequences for future LC inkjet applications, including the development of smart inks, printable sensors and lasers.

Nucleophilic stabilization of water-based reactive ink for titania-based thin film inkjet printing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gadea, Christophe; Marani, Debora; Esposito, Vincenzo

2017-01-01

Drop on demand deposition (DoD) of titanium oxide thin films (<500 nm) is performed via a novel titanium-alkoxide-based solution that is tailored as a reactive ink for inkjet printing. The ink is developed as water-based solution by a combined use of titanium isopropoxide and n-methyldiethanolami...

An inkjet-printed microfluidic device for liquid-liquid extraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Watanabe, Masashi

2011-04-07

A microfluidic device for liquid-liquid extraction was quickly produced using an office inkjet printer. An advantage of this method is that normal end users, who are not familiar with microfabrication, can produce their original microfluidic devices by themselves. In this method, the printer draws a line on a hydrophobic and oil repellent surface using hydrophilic ink. This line directs a fluid, such as water or xylene, to form a microchannel along the printed line. Using such channels, liquid-liquid extraction was successfully performed under concurrent and countercurrent flow conditions. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2011

Influence of surface chemistry on inkjet printed carbon nanotube films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hopkins, Alan R.; Straw, David C.; Spurrell, Kathryn C.

2011-01-01

Carbon nanotube ink chemistry and the proper formulation are crucial for direct-write printing of nanotubes. Moreover, the correct surface chemistry of the self-assembled monolayers that assist the direct deposition of carbon nanotubes onto the substrate is equally important to preserve orientation of the printed carbon nanotubes. We report that the successful formulation of two single walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) inks yields a consistent, homogenous printing pattern possessing the requisite viscosities needed for flow through the microcapillary nozzles of the inkjet printer with fairly modest drying times. The addition of an aqueous sodium silicate allows for a reliable method for forming a uniform carbon nanotube network deposited directly onto unfunctionalized surfaces such as glass or quartz via inkjet deposition. Furthermore, this sodium silicate ingredient helps preserve applied orientation to the printed SWNT solution. Sheet resistivity of this carbon nanotube ink formula printed on quartz decreases as a function of passes and is independent of the substrate. SWNTs were successfully patterned on Au. This amine-based surface chemistry dramatically helps improve the isolation stabilization of the printed SWNTs as seen in the atomic force microscopy (AFM) image. Lastly, using our optimized SWNT ink formula and waveform parameters in the Fuji materials printer, we are able to directly write/print SWNTs into 2D patterns. Dried ink pattern expose and help orient roped carbon nanotubes that are suspended in ordered arrays across the cracks.

Inkjet-Printed Lithium-Sulfur Microcathodes for All-Printed, Integrated Nanomanufacturing.

Science.gov (United States)

Milroy, Craig A; Jang, Seonpil; Fujimori, Toshihiko; Dodabalapur, Ananth; Manthiram, Arumugam

2017-03-01

Improved thin-film microbatteries are needed to provide appropriate energy-storage options to power the multitude of devices that will bring the proposed "Internet of Things" network to fruition (e.g., active radio-frequency identification tags and microcontrollers for wearable and implantable devices). Although impressive efforts have been made to improve the energy density of 3D microbatteries, they have all used low energy-density lithium-ion chemistries, which present a fundamental barrier to miniaturization. In addition, they require complicated microfabrication processes that hinder cost-competitiveness. Here, inkjet-printed lithium-sulfur (Li-S) cathodes for integrated nanomanufacturing are reported. Single-wall carbon nanotubes infused with electronically conductive straight-chain sulfur (S@SWNT) are adopted as an integrated current-collector/active-material composite, and inkjet printing as a top-down approach to achieve thin-film shape control over printed electrode dimensions is used. The novel Li-S cathodes may be directly printed on traditional microelectronic semicoductor substrates (e.g., SiO 2 ) or on flexible aluminum foil. Profilometry indicates that these microelectrodes are less than 10 µm thick, while cyclic voltammetry analyses show that the S@SWNT possesses pseudocapacitive characteristics and corroborates a previous study suggesting the S@SWNT discharge via a purely solid-state mechanism. The printed electrodes produce ≈800 mAh g -1 S initially and ≈700 mAh g -1 after 100 charge/discharge cycles at C/2 rate. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Synthesis and inkjet printing of aqueous ZnS:Mn nanoparticles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Angelo, Peter D., E-mail: peter.angelo@mail.utoronto.ca [Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, Pulp and Paper Centre, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, Canada M5G3A1 (Canada); Kronfli, Rosanna; Farnood, Ramin R. [Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, Pulp and Paper Centre, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, Canada M5G3A1 (Canada)

2013-04-15

Nanoparticles of ZnS doped with Mn, a common photo- and electro-luminescent species, were synthesized in water using a competitive precipitation method. Particle size was controlled by selection of an appropriate stabilizer added during synthesis, 3-mercaptopropionic acid, which also rendered the particles water-dispersible after synthesis and isolation. Primary particle size was ∼3 nm, with small agglomerates of 10–20 nm in size. The particles were stably dispersed into water at a loading of 2.5 w/w%. This dispersion formed the basis for an aqueous inkjet ink, containing 1 w/w% ZnS:Mn. The small particle size allowed the nanoparticles to be successfully delivered to several substrates without loss during filtration or jetting. Bright photoluminescence was observed in the printed patterns on some substrates (glass, photo-paper, foil, etc.) but was quenched on other substrates where the ink penetrated into the surface (uncoated paper). The small drop volume (10 pL) allowed for reasonably high-resolution printed patterns to be deposited, albeit with significant surface roughness due to the “coffee-ring” effect. -- Highlights: ► Highly monodisperse ZnS:Mn nanoparticles were prepared in aqueous solution. ► ZnS:Mn incorporated into a fluid with suitable properties for inkjet printing. ► Photoluminescence was bright on impermeable substrates but quenched on paper. ► Film smoothness was compromised by high solids loading, and high viscosity of ink.

The effect of surface modifications of carbon nanotubes on the electrical properties of inkjet-printed SWNT/PEDOT-PSS composite line patterns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Najeeb, C K; Lee, Jae-Hyeok; Chang, Jingbo; Kim, Jae-Ho

2010-01-01

We prepared nanocomposite inks of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT-PSS) filled with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) purified by acidic treatment, carboxylated by chemical oxidation and carboxyl-functionalized nanotubes physically modified with a natural gum, gum arabic. Inkjet printing of line patterns with a feature size of 100 μm width and lengths ranging from 1 to 5 cm was performed on glass substrates with a piezoelectric inkjet printer. The carboxyl-functionalized SWNT-based composite demonstrated a significant decrease (fourfold) of electrical resistance for the line patterns compared to that with a purified CNT-based composite due to improved dispersability of nanotubes in the polymer matrix. The use of gum arabic for the dispersion of carboxyl-functionalized nanotubes demonstrated a further drastic decrease (18-fold) of the resistance compared with a purified CNT-based composite owing to the formation of an extended continuous network within the line pattern. The inkjet-printed conductive patterns can be applied in various fields, such as flexible high speed transistors, high efficiency solar cells and transparent electrodes.

A New Miniaturized Inkjet Printed Solid State Electrolyte Sensor for Applications in Life Support Systems - First Results

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Christine; Stefanos Fasoulas, -; Eberhart, Martin; Berndt, Felix

New generations of integrated closed loop systems will combine life support systems (incl. biological components) and energy systems such as fuel cell and electrolysis systems. Those systems and their test beds also contain complex safety sensor monitoring systems. Especially in fuel cells and electrolysis systems, the hydrogen and oxygen flows and exchange into other areas due to diffusion processes or leaks need to be monitored. Knowledge of predominant gas concentrations at all times is essential to avoid explosive gas mixtures. Solid state electrolyte sensors are promising for use as safety sensors. They have already been developed and produced at various institutes, but the power consumption for heating an existing solid state electrolyte sensor element still lies between 1 to 1.5 W and the operational readiness still takes about 20 to 30 s. This is partially due to the current manufacturing process for the solid state electrolyte sensor elements that is based on screen printing technology. However this technology has strong limitations in flexibility of the layout and re-designs. It is therefore suitable for mass production, but not for a flexible development and the production of specific individual sensors, e.g. for space applications. Moreover a disadvantage is the relatively high material consumption, especially in combination with the sensors need of expensive noble metal and ceramic pastes, which leads to a high sensor unit price. The Inkjet technology however opens up completely new possibilities in terms of dimensions, geometries, structures, morphologies and materials of sensors. This new approach is capable of printing finer high-resolution layers without the necessity of meshes or masks for patterning. Using the Inkjet technology a design change is possible at any time on the CAD screen. Moreover the ink is only deposited where it is needed. Custom made sensors, as they are currently demanded in space sensor applications, are thus realized simply

Inkjet printed circularly polarized antennas for GPS applications

KAUST Repository

Farooqui, Muhammad Fahad

2014-07-01

Two novel, inkjet printed circularly polarized antenna designs are presented for GPS applications. First antenna design comprises a planar monopole which has been made circularly polarized by the introduction of an L-shaped slit. The antenna shows a gain of 0.2 dBi at 1.575 GHz with 3-dB axial ratio bandwidth of 3.8%. The second antenna design comprises a modified monopole in the form of an inverted L and has been termed as circularly polarized inverted L antenna (CILA). The antenna shows a gain of -2 dBi at 1.575 GHz with 3-dB axial ratio bandwidth of 4.1%. Both the antenna designs are attractive for mobile applications.

Microstrain and residual stress in thin-films made from silver nanoparticles deposited by inkjet-printing technology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cauchois, R.; Borbély, A.; Gergaud, P.; Saadaoui, M.; Inal, K.

2014-01-01

Colloidal suspensions of nanoparticles are increasingly employed in the fabrication process of electronic devices using inkjet-printing technology and a consecutive thermal treatment. The evolution of internal stresses during the conversion of silver nanoparticle-based ink into a metallic thin-film

Inkjet Printing of Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Based on Alcohol-Soluble Polyfluorenes

Science.gov (United States)

Odod, A. V.; Gadirov, R. M.; Solodova, T. A.; Kurtsevich, A. E.; Il'gach, D. M.; Yakimanskii, A. V.; Burtman, V.; Kopylova, T. N.

2018-04-01

Ink compositions for inkjet printing based on poly(9.9-dioctylfluorene) and its alcohol-soluble analog are created. Current-voltage, brightness-voltage, and spectral characteristics are compared for one- and twolayer polymer structures of organic light-emitting diodes. It is shown that the efficiency of the alcohol-soluble polyfluorene analog is higher compared to poly(9.9-dioctylfluorene), and the possibility of viscosity optimization is higher compared to aromatic chlorinated solvents.

New Yellow Synergist for Stable Pigment Dispersion of Inkjet Ink.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Gihyun; Lee, Hayoon; Jung, Hyocheol; Kang, Seokwoo; Park, Jongwook

2018-02-01

Minimizing ink droplet and self-dispersed pigment mixture are becoming hot issues for high resolution of inkjet printing. New synergist including sulfonic acid group of PY-74 was suggested and synthesized. Pigment itself did not show water solubility but new synergist, SY-11 exhibited good solubility in water and organic solvents such as DMSO and DMF. When aqueous pigment ink was prepared with SY-11, storage stability of the ink has been remained for 7 days under periodically repeated heating and cooling conditions. Particle size of formulated ink was around 150 nm.

Modified processing conditions for optimized organic solar cells with inkjet printed P3HT:PC61BM active layers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lange, Alexander; Hollaender, Andreas; Wegener, Michael

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Inkjet printing was used to deposit P3HT:PC 61 BM solar cell active layers. ► The fill factor was dependent on the drying conditions used after printing. ► Fast drying at 100 °C and post-annealing resulted in good device performance. ► Devices with active layers which were slowly dried had high efficiencies without post-annealing. -- Abstract: Inkjet printing can be used to deposit the functional layers of organic solar cells and it offers advantages over spin coating such as the possibility to print films with user-defined patterns. In this study, inkjet printing was utilized to deposit polymer:fullerene solar cell active layers and different drying and annealing conditions were examined in order to optimize device performance. Low fill factors of approximately 30% were found for devices with printed active layers that were dried at 100 °C and a considerable shift in the fill factor of up to 60% was seen after post-annealing at 150 °C. Changes in the fill factor corresponded to an increase in device efficiency from ∼1.3% to ∼2.4% after post-annealing. An alternative active layer drying procedure was used based on solvent annealing which resulted in high fill factors of 60% and efficiencies of ∼2.4% without post-annealing. Blend films were examined with atomic force microscopy, ultra-violet visible spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was determined that solvent annealed, inkjet printed active layers are considerably rougher and show enhanced organization with respect to films that were dried at 100 °C. Two preparation routes are provided for devices with printed active layers with acceptable efficiencies based on quick drying and post-annealing or slow drying (solvent annealing)

Study of thermo-fluidic behavior of micro-droplet in inkjet-based micro manufacturing processes

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Raju; Mahapatra, Abhijit; Ball, Amit Kumar; Roy, Shibendu Shekhar; Murmu, Naresh Chandra

2017-06-01

Inkjet printing technology, a maskless, non-contact patterning operation, which has been a revelation in the field of micro and nano manufacturing for its use in the selective deposition of desired materials. It is becoming an exciting alternative technology such as lithography to print functional material on to a substrate. Selective deposition of functional materials on desired substrates is a basic requirement in many of the printing based micro and nano manufacturing operations like the fabrication of microelectronic devices, solar cell, Light-emitting Diode (LED) research fields like pharmaceutical industries for drug discovery purposes and in biotechnology to make DNA microarrays. In this paper, an attempt has been made to design and develop an indigenous Electrohydrodynamic Inkjet printing system for micro fabrication and to study the interrelationships between various thermos-fluidic parameters of the ink material in the printing process. The effect of printing process parameters on printing performance characteristics has also been studied. And the applicability of the process has also been experimentally demonstrated. The experimentally found results were quite satisfactory and accordance to its applicability.

Inkjet printing of paracetamol and indomethacin using electromagnetic technology: Rheological compatibility and polymorphic selectivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Kollamaram, Gayathri; Hopkins, Simon C; Glowacki, Bartek A; Croker, Denise M; Walker, Gavin M

2018-03-30

Drop-on-demand inkjet printing is a potential enabling technology both for continuous manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and for personalized medicine, but its use is often restricted to low-viscosity solutions and nano-suspensions. In the present study, a robust electromagnetic (valvejet) inkjet technology has been successfully applied to deposit prototype dosage forms from solutions with a wide range of viscosities, and from suspensions with particle sizes exceeding 2 μm. A detailed solid-state study of paracetamol, printed from a solution ink on hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), revealed that the morphology of the substrate and its chemical interactions can have a considerable influence on polymorphic selectivity. Paracetamol ink crystallized exclusively into form II when printed on a smooth polyethylene terephthalate substrate, and exclusively into form I when in sufficient proximity to the rough surface of the HPMC substrate to be influenced by confinement in pores and chemical interactions. The relative standard deviation in the strength of the dosage forms was fixed dose combinations are of particular interest. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Two-step flash light sintering process for crack-free inkjet-printed Ag films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Sung-Hyeon; Kim, Hak-Sung; Jang, Shin; Lee, Dong-Jun; Oh, Jehoon

2013-01-01

In this paper, a two-step flash light sintering process for inkjet-printed Ag films is investigated with the aim of improving the quality of sintered Ag films. The flash light sintering process is divided into two steps: a preheating step and a main sintering step. The preheating step is used to remove the organic binder without abrupt vaporization. The main sintering step is used to complete the necking connections among the silver nanoparticles and achieve high electrical conductivity. The process minimizes the damage on the polymer substrate and the interface between the sintered Ag film and polymer substrate. The electrical conductivity is calculated by measuring the resistance and cross-sectional area with an LCR meter and 3D optical profiler, respectively. It is found that the resistivity of the optimal flash light-sintered Ag films (36.32 nΩ m), which is 228.86% of that of bulk silver, is lower than that of thermally sintered ones (40.84 nΩ m). Additionally, the polyimide film used as the substrate is preserved with the inkjet-printed pattern shape during the flash light sintering process without delamination or defects. (paper)

Effect of Substrates on the Dynamic Properties of Inkjet-Printed Ag Thin Films

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deokman Kim

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The dynamic properties of inkjet-printed Ag thin films on flexible substrates were measured using flexural wave propagation. The Ag nanoparticle suspension was inkjet-printed on polyimide (PI, silicon wafer, and glass. The effects of flexible substrates on the dynamic properties of the films were investigated. Beam-shaped Ag-printed substrates were fabricated by pico-second laser pulse cutting. The wave approach was presented to analyze the vibrations of the thin film on the substrates. The Young’s modulus and loss factor of the Ag thin films with the substrates were represented by the combined bending stiffness of the bilayer beam. The vibration response of the base-excited cantilever was measured using an accelerometer and laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV. Vibration transfers were analyzed to obtain dynamic characteristics of the Ag-printed bilayer beam. The substrate affects the reduction of the Ag thin film thickness during the sintering process and surface roughness of the film. The proposed method based on the wave approach allows measurement of the dynamic properties regardless of the ratio of the modulus between the thin film and substrate.

Low Cost Inkjet Printed Smart Bandage for Wireless Monitoring of Chronic Wounds

OpenAIRE

Farooqui, Muhammad Fahad; Shamim, Atif

2016-01-01

Chronic wounds affect millions of patients around the world and their treatment is challenging as the early signs indicating their development are subtle. In addition, a type of chronic wound, known as pressure ulcer, develops in patients with limited mobility. Infection and frequent bleeding are indicators of chronic wound development. In this article, we present an unprecedented low cost continuous wireless monitoring system, realized through inkjet printing on a standard bandage, which can...

Improvement of dissolution rate of indomethacin by inkjet printing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wickström, Henrika; Palo, Mirja; Rijckaert, Karen

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to prepare printable inks of the poorly water soluble drug indomethacin (IMC), fabricate printed systems with flexible doses and investigate the effect of ink excipients on the printability, dissolution rate and the solid state properties of the drug. A piezoelectric...... the spectra of the carrier substrate. Yet, the samples retained their yellow color after 6months of storage at room temperature and after drying at elevated temperature in a vacuum oven. This suggests that the samples remained either in a dissolved or an amorphous form. Based on the results from this study...... a formulation guidance for inkjet printing of poorly soluble drugs is also proposed....

Full densification of inkjet-printed copper conductive tracks on a flexible substrate utilizing a hydrogen plasma sintering

Science.gov (United States)

Kwon, Young-Tae; Lee, Young-In; Kim, Seil; Lee, Kun-Jae; Choa, Yong-Ho

2017-02-01

Low temperature sintering techniques are crucial in developing flexible printed electronics. In this work, we demonstrate a novel hydrogen plasma sintering method that achieves a full reduction and densification of inkjet-printed patterns using a copper complex ion ink. After inkjet printing on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates, both hydrogen plasma and conventional hydrogen thermal treatment were employed to compare the resulting microstructures, electrical properties and anti-oxidation behavior. The plasma treated pattern shows a fully densified microstructure with a resistivity of 3.23 μΩ cm, while the thermally treated pattern shows a relatively poor microstructure and high resistivity. In addition, the hydrogen plasma-treated copper pattern retains its electrical resistivity for one month without any significant decrease. This novel hydrogen plasma sintering technique could be used to produce conductive patterns with excellent electrical properties, allowing for highly reliable flexible printed electronics.

Insitu synthesis of self-assembled gold nanoparticles on glass or silicon substrates through reactive inkjet printing

KAUST Repository

Abulikemu, Mutalifu; Da'As, Eman Husni; Haverinen, Hanna M.; Cha, Dong Kyu; Malik, Mohammad A.; Jabbour, Ghassan Elie

2013-01-01

A facile and low cost method for the synthesis of self-assembled nanoparticles (NPs) with minimal size variation and chemical waste by using reactive inkjet printing was developed. Gold NPs with diameters as small as (8±2)nm can be made at low

Dynamics of wetting explored with inkjet printing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Völkel Simeon

2017-01-01

Full Text Available An inkjet printer head, which is capable of depositing liquid droplets with a resolution of 22 picoliters and high repeatability, is employed to investigate the wetting dynamics of drops printed on a horizontal plane as well as on a granular monolayer. For a sessile drop on a horizontal plane, we characterize the contact angle hysteresis, drop volume and contact line dynamics from side view images. We show that the evaporation rate scales with the dimension of the contact line instead of the surface area of the drop. We demonstrate that the system evolves into a closed cycle upon repeating the depositing-evaporating process, owing to the high repeatability of the printing facility. Finally, we extend the investigation to a granular monolayer in order to explore the interplay between liquid deposition and granular particles.

An inkjet printed meandered dipole antenna for RF passive sensing applications

KAUST Repository

Quddious, Abdul

2016-04-10

In this paper, a low cost inkjet printed antenna envisioned for integration with printed and non-printed RF sensors is presented. The proposed meandered dipole dual-loop antenna is designed on a 0.25mm thick paper substrate. The antenna not only gives wireless remote sensing capability but also allows remote identification functionality. The antenna structure consists of an outer loop and an inner loop resonating at 3GHz and 5GHz respectively and used for obtaining unique electromagnetic signature by modifications in their dimensions.

Conditions of rib design for polycarbonate resin with high glossy surfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jeong, Seong Won [Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2013-10-15

Much attention has been being given to the importance of product surfaces in the field of plastic parts, as industrial design has become one of the key elements of product success. These plastic parts incorporate rib-like geometries on the non-appearance surfaces of plastic in order to increase the stiffness of rigidity of the section, but they often cause appearance problems of the product's surface overall by making a sink mark on that surface. The thickness, height and draft-angle of the rib are generally known as major parameters influencing the sink mark on the appearance surface. Therefore, designers of plastic parts must determine the variables of reinforcing ribs. The goal of this study is to find the optimum design variables in the mixing conditions of the thickness, the height and the draft angle of reinforcing ribs so that designers of plastic parts can easily determine the conditions of the reinforcing ribs as the part's section thickness varies within an objective limit in polycarbonate plastic resin and a high glossy surface that are widely applied in the creation of plastic products. We investigated the actual depths of sink marks on the surface of a specimen that was manufactured with an injection mold specifically for this study. Response surface methodology with the Box-Behnken design was used to analyze the regression curve of real depths with combinations of the thickness, height and draft angle of the ribs. The result shows that the most influential factor to increase the shrinkage is the thickness of ribs and that the optimum value of the rib thickness is a range from multiple of 0.25 to 0.34 of the section thickness. Also, the rib height and rib draft angle are not major factors that can change the sink amount.

Conditions of rib design for polycarbonate resin with high glossy surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, Seong Won

2013-01-01

Much attention has been being given to the importance of product surfaces in the field of plastic parts, as industrial design has become one of the key elements of product success. These plastic parts incorporate rib-like geometries on the non-appearance surfaces of plastic in order to increase the stiffness of rigidity of the section, but they often cause appearance problems of the product's surface overall by making a sink mark on that surface. The thickness, height and draft-angle of the rib are generally known as major parameters influencing the sink mark on the appearance surface. Therefore, designers of plastic parts must determine the variables of reinforcing ribs. The goal of this study is to find the optimum design variables in the mixing conditions of the thickness, the height and the draft angle of reinforcing ribs so that designers of plastic parts can easily determine the conditions of the reinforcing ribs as the part's section thickness varies within an objective limit in polycarbonate plastic resin and a high glossy surface that are widely applied in the creation of plastic products. We investigated the actual depths of sink marks on the surface of a specimen that was manufactured with an injection mold specifically for this study. Response surface methodology with the Box-Behnken design was used to analyze the regression curve of real depths with combinations of the thickness, height and draft angle of the ribs. The result shows that the most influential factor to increase the shrinkage is the thickness of ribs and that the optimum value of the rib thickness is a range from multiple of 0.25 to 0.34 of the section thickness. Also, the rib height and rib draft angle are not major factors that can change the sink amount.

INKJET PRINTING OF HIGH REFRACTIVE STRUCTURES BASED ON TiO2 SOL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena A. Eremeeva

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Subject of Research. The paper deals with description of novel inkjet printing method for optical elements formed by structures based on TiO2 sol. The proposed approach presents effective way to obtain such optical nano objects as diffraction structures and transparent interference patterns. Methods. TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by hydrolysis of titanium isopropoxide (0.36 mol in deionized water (33.3 mol under vigorous stirring and using nitric acid (0.04 mol as a protonating agent. Viscosity was determined by Brookfield HA/HB viscometer, and surface tension - by Kyowa DY-700 tensiometer. Titanium dioxide inks were deposited on commercially available microembossed PET film with a thickness of 20 µm. To print titania ink Canon Pixma IP 2840 desktop office printer was used with a drop volume of 2 pL. The thickness of an inkjet TiO2 layer after drying in the air and removal of the solvents did not exceed 500 nm with a refractive index not less than 2.08 in the entire visible range.Main Results. The synthesis of aqueous TiO2 sol was used to obtain the ink with desirable rheological characteristics: viscosity and surface tension. The required rheology was regulated by controlling parameters of sol-gel transition in the system of aqueous titanium dioxide sol and by adding ethanol that affects the charge of double electrical layer of disperse phase. The reviled ratio of titanium dioxide sol and ethanol in the system gives such values of viscosity and surface tension that make this material convenient for inkjet printing. The coatings created by sol have a high refractive index in the entire visible range (not less than 2.08. We have shown that the deposition of optical transparent microstructures with diffraction effect has an ability to be applied on the transparent surfaces. The morphology of particles and the topology of printed structures were analyzed by optic and atomic-force microscopes.Practical Relevance. We have proposed the approach

Degradation of inkjet ink by greensand and ultrasonic sonification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirela Rožić

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The study describes the degradation of inkjet ink at low frequency ultrasound (US and greensand to compare their reactivity. Environmental sonochemistry is a rapidly growing area and an example of the advanced oxidation process (AOP that deals with the destruction of organic species in aqueous solutions. Greensand is a granular material coated with a thin layer of manganese dioxide (MnO2 which is among the strongest natural oxidants. In our study magenta inkjet water-based printing ink was dissolved in distilled water and the solutions obtained after degradation were analysed in terms of total organic compound (TOC and absorption curves in the visible spectra. Also used for the process monitoring was high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC. The efficiency of discoloration is significantly affected by the effluent pH. The efficiency of discolouration was higher when the pH of initial solution was 2 with respect to the initial solution pH of 5.5. In all solutions, irrespective of the initial pH value and the processing method the oxidation of polyhydric alcohols occurs. Although the decomposition is significant, surface peaks resulting from HPLC analysis are very small. Decolourization is closely related to the cleavage of the – C=C and -N=N- bonds, and oxidation of polyhydric alcohol to the formation of monosaccharides, carboxylic acids or other low molecular weight compounds with a lesser number of unsaturated double bonds. These compounds have low UV absorbance or they absorb below 200 nm and therefore their detection is impossible. Thus, the obtained total organic compound results indicate a small degree of mineralization. The effectiveness of the low-frequency ultrasound (20 kHz oxidation is similar to the effectiveness of oxidation by greendsand.

Fabrication of Capacitive Acoustic Resonators Combining 3D Printing and 2D Inkjet Printing Techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rubaiyet Iftekharul Haque

2015-10-01

Full Text Available A capacitive acoustic resonator developed by combining three-dimensional (3D printing and two-dimensional (2D printed electronics technique is described. During this work, a patterned bottom structure with rigid backplate and cavity is fabricated directly by a 3D printing method, and then a direct write inkjet printing technique has been employed to print a silver conductive layer. A novel approach has been used to fabricate a diaphragm for the acoustic sensor as well, where the conductive layer is inkjet-printed on a pre-stressed thin organic film. After assembly, the resulting structure contains an electrically conductive diaphragm positioned at a distance from a fixed bottom electrode separated by a spacer. Measurements confirm that the transducer acts as capacitor. The deflection of the diaphragm in response to the incident acoustic single was observed by a laser Doppler vibrometer and the corresponding change of capacitance has been calculated, which is then compared with the numerical result. Observation confirms that the device performs as a resonator and provides adequate sensitivity and selectivity at its resonance frequency.

Fabrication of In Vitro Cancer Microtissue Array on Fibroblast-Layered Nanofibrous Membrane by Inkjet Printing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tae-Min Park

2017-11-01

Full Text Available In general, a drug candidate is evaluated using 2D-cultured cancer cells followed by an animal model. Despite successful preclinical testing, however, most drugs that enter human clinical trials fail. The high failure rates are mainly caused by incompatibility between the responses of the current models and humans. Here, we fabricated a cancer microtissue array in a multi-well format that exhibits heterogeneous and batch-to-batch structure by continuous deposition of collagen-suspended Hela cells on a fibroblast-layered nanofibrous membrane via inkjet printing. Expression of both Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2 and Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9 was higher in cancer microtissues than in fibroblast-free microtissues. The fabricated microtissues were treated with an anticancer drug, and high drug resistance to doxorubicin occurred in cancer microtissues but not in fibroblast-free microtissues. These results introduce an inkjet printing fabrication method for cancer microtissue arrays, which can be used for various applications such as early drug screening and gradual 3D cancer studies.

Inkjet Printing of High Aspect Ratio Superparamagnetic SU-8 Microstructures with Preferential Magnetic Directions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Loïc Jacot-Descombes

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Structuring SU-8 based superparamagnetic polymer composite (SPMPC containing Fe3O4 nanoparticles by photolithography is limited in thickness due to light absorption by the nanoparticles. Hence, obtaining thicker structures requires alternative processing techniques. This paper presents a method based on inkjet printing and thermal curing for the fabrication of much thicker hemispherical microstructures of SPMPC. The microstructures are fabricated by inkjet printing the nanoparticle-doped SU-8 onto flat substrates functionalized to reduce the surface energy and thus the wetting. The thickness and the aspect ratio of the printed structures are further increased by printing the composite onto substrates with confinement pedestals. Fully crosslinked microstructures with a thickness up to 88.8 μm and edge angle of 112° ± 4° are obtained. Manipulation of the microstructures by an external field is enabled by creating lines of densely aggregated nanoparticles inside the composite. To this end, the printed microstructures are placed within an external magnetic field directly before crosslinking inducing the aggregation of dense Fe3O4 nanoparticle lines with in-plane and out-of-plane directions.

One-Bath Pretreatment for Enhanced Color Yield of Ink-Jet Prints Using Reactive Inks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Ma

2017-11-01

Full Text Available In order to facilely increase the color yield of ink-jet prints using reactive inks, one-bath pretreatment of cotton fabrics with pretreatment formulation containing sodium alginate, glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride (GTA, sodium hydroxide, and urea is designed for realizing sizing and cationization at the same time. The pretreatment conditions, including the concentrations of GTA and alkali, baking temperature, and time are optimized based on the result of thecolor yield on cationic cotton for magenta ink. The mechanism for color yield enhancement on GTA-modified fabrics is discussed and the stability of GTA in the print paste is investigated. Scanning electron microscopey, tear strength, and thermogravimetric analysis of the modified and unmodified cotton are studied and compared. Using the optimal pretreatment conditions, color yield on the cationic cotton for magenta, cyan, yellow, and black reactive inks are increased by 128.7%, 142.5%, 71.0%, and 38.1%, respectively, compared with the corresponding color yield on the uncationized cotton. Much less wastewater is produced using this one-bath pretreatment method. Colorfastness of the reactive dyes on the modified and unmodified cotton is compared and boundary clarity between different colors is evaluated by ink-jet printing of colorful patterns.

Visualization and Non-Destructive Quantification of Inkjet-Printed Pharmaceuticals on Different Substrates Using Raman Spectroscopy and Raman Chemical Imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Edinger, Magnus; Bar-Shalom, Daniel; Rantanen, Jukka

2017-01-01

and ethanol was developed. Inkjet printing technology was used to apply haloperidol ink onto three different substrates. Custom-made inorganic compacts and dry foam, as well as marketed paracetamol tablets were used as the substrates. RESULTS: Therapeutic personalized doses were printed by using one to ten...... printing rounds on the substrates. The haloperidol content in the finished dosage forms were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The distribution of the haloperidol on the dosage forms were visualized using Raman chemical imaging combined with principal components analysis (PCA...... prediction was observed for the paracetamol tablets. It was not possible to quantify haloperidol on the dry foam due to the low and varying density of the substrate. CONCLUSIONS: Raman spectroscopy is a useful tool for visualization and quality control of inkjet printed personalized medicine....

Optical Properties of Titania Coatings Prepared by Inkjet Direct Patterning of a Reverse Micelles Sol-Gel Composition.

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Schmiedová, V.; Dzik, P.; Veselý, M.; Zmeškal, O.; Morozová, Magdalena; Klusoň, Petr

2015-01-01

Roč. 20, č. 8 (2015), s. 14552-14564 ISSN 1420-3049 R&D Projects: GA TA ČR TA03010548; GA MPO FR-TI1/144 Institutional support: RVO:67985858 Keywords : material printing * inkjet * ellipsometry Subject RIV: CI - Industrial Chemistry, Chemical Engineering Impact factor: 2.465, year: 2015

Fabrication of In(0.75)Zn(1.5)Sn(1.0) (IZTO) Thin-Film Transistors Using Solution-Processable Materials and PZT Inkjet-Printing.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Tai-Kuang; Liuand, Chao-Te; Lee, Wen-Hsi

2017-01-01

Recently, Thin Film Transistors (TFTs) have been studied widely because of potential applications in low cost, low-temperature process and flexible displays. They can be fabricated by easy processes based on solution methods. But the mobility of organic TFTs is lower and the threshold voltage is higher than amorphous Si TFTs. In order to enhance the channel mobility and satisfy with the requirement of low-cost fabrication, we prepare a low-cost, mask-free, reduced material wastage, deposited technology using transparent, directly printable, air-stable semiconductor slurries and dielectric solutions. In our investigations, we attempt to obtain a high performance and low-cost TFT via preparing materials, designing device structure, and using PZT inkjet-printing technology. A stable and non-precipitated metal oxide ink with appropriate doping was prepared for the fabrication of an InxZn1.5Sn1.0 (IZTO) by PZT inkjet-printing. The soluble direct-printing process is a powerful tool for material research and implies that the printable materials and the printing technology enable the use of all-printed low-cost flexible displays and other transparent electronic applications. Transparent materials including dielectric PVP, conductive carbon nanotube (CNT) and active IZTO were employed into the fabrication of our PZT inkjet-printing process. After annealed at 180 °C, The experimental all-printed TFT exhibit the carrier mobility of 0.194 cm2/Vs, sub-threshold slope of 20 V/decade, and the threshold voltage of 5 V, initially. All-inkjet-printed films have great transparency, potentially in transparent electronics and the transmittance pattern in visible part of the spectrum (400–700 nm) is over 80%.

Direct patterning of silver particles on porous silicon by inkjet printing of a silver salt via in-situ reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiolerio, Alessandro; Virga, Alessandro; Pandolfi, Paolo; Martino, Paola; Rivolo, Paola; Geobaldo, Francesco; Giorgis, Fabrizio

2012-09-06

We have developed a method for obtaining a direct pattern of silver nanoparticles (NPs) on porous silicon (p-Si) by means of inkjet printing (IjP) of a silver salt. Silver NPs were obtained by p-Si mediated in-situ reduction of Ag+ cations using solutions based on AgNO3 which were directly printed on p-Si according to specific geometries and process parameters. The main difference with respect to existing literature is that normally, inkjet printing is applied to silver (metal) NP suspensions, while in our experiment the NPs are formed after jetting the solution on the reactive substrate. We performed both optical and scanning electron microscopes on the NPs traces, correlating the morphology features with the IjP parameters, giving an insight on the synthesis kinetics. The patterned NPs show good performances as SERS substrates.

Controllable synthesis and sintering of silver nanoparticles for inkjet-printed flexible electronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Zhiliang; Zhu, Weiyue

2015-01-01

An effective and facile strategy was developed to successfully synthesize nearly uniform silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with particle size of <10 nm, and demonstrated to achieve the sintering of AgNPs at room temperature for inkjet-printed flexible electronics. In such system, a series of different chain-length alkylamines were exploited as capped molecules to controllable synthesis of uniform AgNPs with the mean nanoparticle size in rang of 8.6 ± 0.9, 8.9 ± 1.2 and 9.2 ± 1.6 nm, and these ultra-small nanoparticles were very favorable to attain an excellent printing fluency. Based on the as-synthesized AgNPs, a sequence of flexible electrocircuits was successfully fabricated by ink-jet printing technique. After the dipped treatment, the printed AgNPs were achieved to spontaneous coalescence and aggregation at room temperature induced by preferential dissolution of capped molecules on AgNPs surfaces into methanol solution. These aggregated AgNPs demonstrated superior controllability, excellent stability and low resistivity in the range of 31.6–26.5 μΩ cm, and would have enormous potential in the application to be tailored for assembly of optoelectronics devices. - Highlights: • Silver nanoparticles with particle size of <10 nm was controllably synthesized. • The sintering of silver nanoparticles was conducted at room temperature. • The resistivity was reached as low as 26.5 μΩ cm for flexible electronics

Behavior of printable formulations of loperamide and caffeine on different substrates--effect of print density in inkjet printing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Genina, Natalja; Fors, Daniela; Palo, Mirja

2013-01-01

The primary goal of the current work was to study the applicability of precision inkjet printing in fabrication of personalized doses of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Loperamide hydrochloride (LOP) and caffeine (CAF) were used as model compounds. Different doses of the drugs in a single...

The preparation of ZnO based gas-sensing thin films by ink-jet printing method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shen Wenfeng; Zhao Yan; Zhang Caibei

2005-01-01

An ink-jet printing technique was applied to prepare ZnO based gas-sensing thin films. ZnO inks with appropriate viscosity and surface tension were prepared by sol-gel techniques, and printed onto substrates using a commercial printer. After the drying and heating treatment processes, continuous ZnO films were formed and studied by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and by a home-made gas sensitivity measuring system. It was found that the morphology and electrical properties of the films changed significantly with the thickness of the films, which can be adjusted simply by printing on the film with increasing frequency. Highest resistance and sensitivity to acetone vapor were obtained when the film was prepared by printing only once on it. Different dopants with certain concentrations could be added into the films by printing with different dopant inks and printing frequency. All Pd, Ag, and ZrO 2 dopants increased both the resistivity and the sensitivity of the films (180 ppm acetone). This work showed that the ink-jet printing technique was a convenient and low cost method to prepare films with controlled film thickness and dopant concentration

Design and testing of RFID sensor tag fabricated using inkjet-printing and electrodeposition

Science.gov (United States)

Chien Dang, Mau; Son Nguyen, Dat; Dung Dang, Thi My; Tedjini, Smail; Fribourg-Blanc, Eric

2014-06-01

The passive RFID tag with an added sensing function is of interest to many applications. In particular, applications where RFID tagging is already considered to be the next step, such as food items, are a specific target. This paper demonstrates a flexible RFID tag sensor fabricated using a low cost technique with an added zero-cost sensing function. It is more specifically applied to the sensing of degradable food, in particular beef meat in our demonstrated example. To reach this, the antenna is designed in such a way to be sensitive to the variation of the dielectric permittivity of the meat over time. The design of the sensing tag as well as its fabrication process are described. The fabrication involves inkjet printing of a silver nanoparticle based ink on a commercial low cost PET film to create a seed layer. It is followed by a copper electrodeposition step on top of the silver pattern to complete the tag to obtain the desired thickness and conductivity of the tag antenna. The results of the electrical tests showed that with the inkjet printing-electrodeposition combination it is possible to produce flexible electrically conductive patterns for practical RFID applications. The tag was then tested in close-to-real-world conditions and it is demonstrated that it can provide a sensing function to detect the consumption limit of the packaged beef.

Effect of the light spectrum of various substrates for inkjet printed conductive structures sintered with intense pulsed light

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weise, Dana; Mitra, Kalyan Yoti; Ueberfuhr, Peter; Baumann, Reinhard R.

2015-01-01

In this work, the novel method of intense pulsed light (IPL) sintering of a nanoparticle silver ink is presented. Various patterns are printed with the Inkjet technology on two flexible foils with different light spectra. One is a clear Polyethylenterephthalat [PET] foil and the second is a light brownish Polyimide [PI] foil. The samples are flashed with different parameters regarding to pulse intensity and pulse length. Microscopic images are indicating the impact of the flashing parameters and the different light spectra of the substrates on the sintered structures. Sheet and line resistance are measured and the conductivity is calculated. A high influence of the property of the substrate with respect to light absorption and thermal conductivity on the functionality of printed conductive structures could be presented. With this new method of IPL sintering, highly conductive inkjet printed silver patterns could be manufactured within milliseconds on flexible polymeric foils without damaging the substrate

Thin TiO2 Films Prepared by Inkjet Printing of the Reverse Micelles Sol-Gel Composition

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Morozová, Magdalena; Klusoň, Petr; Krýsa, Josef; Dzik, P.; Veselý, M.; Šolcová, Olga

2011-01-01

Roč. 160, č. 1 (2011), s. 371-378 ISSN 0925-4005 R&D Projects: GA ČR GD203/08/H032; GA ČR GA104/09/0694; GA AV ČR KAN400720701 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40720504 Keywords : sol-gel * titanium oxide * inkjet printing Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 3.898, year: 2011

Hybrid Binder to Mitigate Feed Powder Segregation in the Inkjet 3D Printing of Titanium Metal Parts

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Saeed Maleksaeedi

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Using feedstock containing discrete dual or multi powders leads to segregation in the powder bed of additive manufacturing processes. In the present study, a new impregnated hybrid binder with properties closer to those of the base powder is developed to mitigate powder segregation in the inkjet 3D printing of titanium components.

Effect of temperature on electrical conductance of inkjet-printed silver nanoparticle ink during continuous wave laser sintering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Dae-Geon; Kim, Dong Keun; Moon, Yoon-Jae; Moon, Seung-Jae

2013-01-01

To determine the effect of temperature on the specific electrical conductance of inkjet-printed ink during continuous wave laser sintering, the temperature of the sintered ink was estimated. The ink, which contained 34 wt.% silver nanoparticles with an average size of approximately 50 nm, was inkjet-printed onto a liquid crystal display glass substrate. The printed ink was irradiated with a 532 nm continuous wave laser for 60 s with various laser intensities. During laser irradiation, the in-situ electrical conductance of the sintered ink was measured to estimate the transient thermal conductivity of the ink. The electrical conductance and thermal conductivity of the ink was coupled to obtain the transient temperature by applying the Wiedemann–Franz law to a two-dimensional transient heat conduction equation. The electrical conductance of laser-sintered ink was highly dependent on the sintering temperature of the ink. - Highlights: • The in-situ electrical conductance was measured during the laser sintering process. • Wiedemann–Franz law coupled the electrical conductance with transient temperature. • The transient temperature of the laser-sintered Ag nanoparticle ink was estimated

Low AC Loss YBCO Coated Conductor Geometry by Direct Inkjet Printing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rupich, Martin, Dr. [American Superconductor Corporation; Duckworth, Robert, Dr. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory

2009-10-01

The second generation (2G) high temperature superconductors (HTS) wire offers potential benefits for many electric power applications, including ones requiring filamentized conductors with low ac loss, such as transformers and fault current limiters. However, the use of 2G wire in these applications requires the development of both novel multi-filamentary conductor designs with lower ac losses and the development of advanced manufacturing technologies that enable the low-cost manufacturing of these filamentized architectures. This Phase I SBIR project focused on testing inkjet printing as a potential low-cost, roll-to-roll manufacturing technique to fabricate potential low ac loss filamentized architectures directly on the 2G template strips.

An Inkjet Printed Piezoresistive Back to Back Tactile Sensor for Endosurgical Palpation Applications (Postprint)

Science.gov (United States)

2017-02-23

biological tissues. Chuang et al. [4] further employed the two- spring model to design a piezoelectric tactile sensor with a hard copper ball embedded in a...technique [12]. Because the printed graphene flakes must be sintered above 200 °C for good adhesion and better property on a silicon substrate with...electroplating a Cu mold, (c) stripping the photoresist followed by the removal of the seed layer using Cu etchant and BOE, (d) inkjet printing graphene flakes

Adjustable threshold-voltage in all-inkjet-printed organic thin film transistor using double-layer dielectric structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Wen-Jong; Lee, Chang-Hung; Hsu, Chun-Hao; Yang, Shih-Hsien; Lin, Chih-Ting

2013-01-01

An all-inkjet-printed organic thin film transistor (OTFT) with a double-layer dielectric structure is proposed and implemented in this study. By using the double-layer structure with different dielectric materials (i.e., polyvinylphenol with poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene)), the threshold-voltage of OTFT can be adjusted. The threshold-voltage shift can be controlled by changing the composition of dielectric layers. That is, an enhancement-mode OTFT can be converted to a depletion-mode OTFT by selectively printing additional dielectric layers to form a high-k/low-k double-layer structure. The printed OTFT has a carrier mobility of 5.0 × 10 −3 cm 2 /V-s. The threshold-voltages of the OTFTs ranged between − 13 V and 10 V. This study demonstrates an additional design parameter for organic electronics manufactured using inkjet printing technology. - Highlights: • A double-layer dielectric organic thin film transistor, OTFT, is implemented. • The threshold voltage of OTFT can be configured by the double dielectric structure. • The composition of the dielectric determines the threshold voltage shift. • The characteristics of OTFTs can be adjusted by double dielectric structures

In-situ fabrication of flexible vertically integrated electronic circuits by inkjet printing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Zhuo; Wu Wenwen; Yang Qunbao; Li Yongxiang; Noh, Chang-Ho

2009-01-01

In this paper, a facile approach for fabricating flexible vertically integrated electronic circuits is demonstrated. A desktop inkjet printer was modified and employed to print silver precursor on a polymer-coated buffer substrates. In-situ reaction was taken place and a conducting line was formed without need of a high temperature treatment. Through this process, several layers of metal integrated circuits were deposited sequentially with polymer buffer layers sandwiched between each layer. Hence, vertically integrated electronic components of diodes, solar cells, flexible flat panel displays, and electrochromic devices can be built with this simple and low-cost technique.

A bio-enabled maximally mild layer-by-layer Kapton surface modification approach for the fabrication of all-inkjet-printed flexible electronic devices

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Yunnan; Hester, Jimmy G. D.; Su, Wenjing; Chow, Justin H.; Sitaraman, Suresh K.; Tentzeris, Manos M.

2016-12-01

A bio-enabled, environmentally-friendly, and maximally mild layer-by-layer approach has been developed to surface modify inherently hydrophobic Kapton HN substrates to allow for great printability of both water- and organic solvent-based inks thus facilitating the full-inkjet-printing of flexible electronic devices. Different from the traditional Kapton surface modification approaches which are structure-compromising and use harsh conditions to target, and oxidize and/or remove part of, the surface polyimide of Kapton, the present Kapton surface modification approach targeted the surface electric charges borne by its additive particles, and was not only the first to utilize environmentally-friendly clinical biomolecules to build up a thin film of protamine-heparin complex on Kapton, but also the first to be conducted under minimally destructive and maximally mild conditions. Besides, for electrically charged ink particles, the present surface modification method can enhance the uniformity of the inkjet-printed films by reducing the “coffee ring effect”. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, reduced graphene oxide-based gas sensors, which were flexible, ultra-lightweight, and miniature-sized, were fully-inkjet-printed on surface modified Kapton HN films and tested for their sensitivity to dimethyl methylphosphonate (a nerve agent simulant). Such fabricated sensors survived a Scotch-tape peel test and were found insensitive to repeated bending to a small 0.5 cm radius.

Fabrication of thin yttria-stabilized-zirconia dense electrolyte layers by inkjet printing for high performing solid oxide fuel cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Esposito, Vincenzo; Gadea, Christophe; Hjelm, Johan

2015-01-01

In this work, we present how a low-cost HP Deskjet 1000 inkjet printer was used to fabricate a 1.2 mm thin, dense and gas tight 16 cm2 solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) electrolyte. The electrolyte was printed using an ink made of highly diluted (

Interfacial nucleation behavior of inkjet-printed 6,13 bis(tri-isopropylsilylethynyl) pentacene on dielectric surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Xianghua; Lv, Shenchen; Chen, Mengjie; Qiu, Longzhen; Zhang, Guobing; Lu, Hongbo; Yuan, Miao; Qin, Mengzhi

2015-01-01

The performance of organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) is heavily dependent on the interface property between the organic semiconductor and the dielectric substrate. Device fabrication with bottom-gate architecture by depositing the semiconductors with a solution method is highly recommended for cost-effectiveness. Surface modification of the dielectric layer is employed as an effective approach to control film growth. Here, we perform surface modification via a self-assembled monolayer of silanes, a spin-coated polymer layer or UV-ozone cleaning, to prepare surfaces with different surface polarities and morphologies. The semiconductor is inkjet-printed on the surface-treated substrates as single-line films with overlapping drop assignment. Surface morphologies of the dielectric before film deposition and film morphologies of the inkjet-printed semiconductor are characterized with polarized microscopy and AFM. Electrical properties of the films are studied through organic thin-film transistors with bottom-gate/bottom-contact structure. With reduced surface polarity and nanoscale aggregation of silane molecules on the substrates, semiconductor nucleates from the interior interface between the ink solution and the substrate, which contributes to film growth with higher crystal coverage and better film quality at the interface. Surface treatment with hydrophobic silanes is a promising approach to fabrication of high performance OTFTs with nonpolar conjugated molecules via solution methods

Interfacial nucleation behavior of inkjet-printed 6,13 bis(tri-isopropylsilylethynyl) pentacene on dielectric surfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Xianghua, E-mail: xhwang@hfut.edu.cn; Lv, Shenchen; Chen, Mengjie; Qiu, Longzhen, E-mail: lzhqiu@hfut.edu.cn; Zhang, Guobing; Lu, Hongbo [Key Lab of Special Display Technology, Ministry of Education, National Engineering Lab of Special Display Technology, National Key Lab of Advanced Display Technology, Academy of Opto-Electronic Technology, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009 (China); Yuan, Miao; Qin, Mengzhi [Key Lab of Special Display Technology, Ministry of Education, National Engineering Lab of Special Display Technology, National Key Lab of Advanced Display Technology, Academy of Opto-Electronic Technology, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009 (China); School of Electronic Science and Applied Physics, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009 (China)

2015-01-14

The performance of organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) is heavily dependent on the interface property between the organic semiconductor and the dielectric substrate. Device fabrication with bottom-gate architecture by depositing the semiconductors with a solution method is highly recommended for cost-effectiveness. Surface modification of the dielectric layer is employed as an effective approach to control film growth. Here, we perform surface modification via a self-assembled monolayer of silanes, a spin-coated polymer layer or UV-ozone cleaning, to prepare surfaces with different surface polarities and morphologies. The semiconductor is inkjet-printed on the surface-treated substrates as single-line films with overlapping drop assignment. Surface morphologies of the dielectric before film deposition and film morphologies of the inkjet-printed semiconductor are characterized with polarized microscopy and AFM. Electrical properties of the films are studied through organic thin-film transistors with bottom-gate/bottom-contact structure. With reduced surface polarity and nanoscale aggregation of silane molecules on the substrates, semiconductor nucleates from the interior interface between the ink solution and the substrate, which contributes to film growth with higher crystal coverage and better film quality at the interface. Surface treatment with hydrophobic silanes is a promising approach to fabrication of high performance OTFTs with nonpolar conjugated molecules via solution methods.

Control of droplet morphology for inkjet-printed TIPS-pentacene transistors

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Myung Won; Ryu, Gi Seong; Lee, Young Uk; Pearson, Christopher; Petty, Michael C.; Song, Chung Kun

2012-01-01

We report on methods to control the morphology of droplets of 6,13-bis(triisopropyl-silylethynyl) pentacene (TIPS-PEN), which are then used in the fabrication of organic thin film transistors (OTFTs). The grain size and distribution of the TIPS-PEN were found to depend on the temperature of the droplets during drying. The performance of the OTFTs could be improved by heating the substrate and also by changing the relative positions of the inkjet-printed droplets. In our experiments, the optimum substrate temperature was 46 °C in air. Transistors with the TIPS-PEN grain boundaries parallel to the current flow between the source and drain electrodes exhibited charge carrier mobilities of 0.44 ± 0.08 cm2/V s.

Printing Multistrain Bacterial Patterns with a Piezoelectric Inkjet Printer

Science.gov (United States)

Merrin, Jack; Leibler, Stanislas; Chuang, John S.

2007-01-01

Many studies involving interacting microorganisms would benefit from simple devices able to deposit cells in precisely defined patterns. We describe an inexpensive bacterial piezoelectric inkjet printer (adapted from the design of the POSaM oligonucleotide microarrayer) that can be used to “print out” different strains of bacteria or chemicals in small droplets onto a flat surface at high resolution. The capabilities of this device are demonstrated by printing ordered arrays comprising two bacterial strains labeled with different fluorescent proteins. We also characterized several properties of this piezoelectric printer, such as the droplet volume (of the order of tens of pl), the distribution of number of cells in each droplet, and the dependence of droplet volume on printing frequency. We established the limits of the printing resolution, and determined that the printed viability of Escherichia coli exceeded 98.5%. PMID:17653283

Enhancement of carrier mobility in all-inkjet-printed organic thin-film transistors using a blend of poly(3-hexylthiophene) and carbon nanoparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Chih-Ting; Hsu, Chun-Hao; Chen, Iu-Ren; Lee, Chang-Hung; Wu, Wen-Jung

2011-01-01

To enhance the carrier mobility of all-inkjet-printed organic thin film transistors, we fabricated devices that incorporated poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and carbon nanoparticles (CNPs). The fabricated devices had an on/off ratio of 10 4 , which is one order less than that of pristine organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs). The maximum carrier mobility as high as 0.053 cm 2 /V-s was achieved for a CNP/P3HT weight-weight ratio of 7/100. This degree of mobility is 10 times greater than average mobility of pristine P3HT-OTFTs. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy images reveal that the carrier mobility was enhanced by reducing the injection barrier and enhancing the carrier injection. This work demonstrates the feasibility of all-inkjet-printed OTFT technology.

Anchoring protein crystals to mounting loops with hydrogel using inkjet technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Shinoda, Akira; Tanaka, Yoshikazu; Yao, Min; Tanaka, Isao

2014-11-01

X-ray crystallography is an important technique for structure-based drug discovery, mainly because it is the only technique that can reveal whether a ligand binds to the target protein as well as where and how it binds. However, ligand screening by X-ray crystallography involves a crystal-soaking experiment, which is usually performed manually. Thus, the throughput is not satisfactory for screening large numbers of candidate ligands. In this study, a technique to anchor protein crystals to mounting loops by using gel and inkjet technology has been developed; the method allows soaking of the mounted crystals in ligand-containing solution. This new technique may assist in the design of a fully automated drug-screening pipeline.

All-solid-state micro-supercapacitors based on inkjet printed graphene electrodes

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jiantong; Mishukova, Viktoriia; Östling, Mikael

2016-09-01

The all-solid-state graphene-based in-plane micro-supercapacitors are fabricated simply through reliable inkjet printing of pristine graphene in interdigitated structure on silicon wafers to serve as both electrodes and current collectors, and a following drop casting of polymer electrolytes (polyvinyl alcohol/H3PO4). Benefiting from the printing processing, an attractive porous electrode microstructure with a large number of vertically orientated graphene flakes is observed. The devices exhibit commendable areal capacitance over 0.1 mF/cm2 and a long cycle life of over 1000 times. The simple and scalable fabrication technique for efficient micro-supercapacitors is promising for on-chip energy storage applications in emerging electronics.

Inkjet printing of aqueous rivulets: Formation, deposition, and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Bromberg, Vadim

The past two decades have seen an explosion of research and development into nanotechnology, ranging from synthesis of novel materials that exhibit unique behavior to the assembly of fully functional devices that hold the potential to benefit all sectors of industry and society as a whole. One significant challenge for this emerging technology is the scaling of newly developed processes to the industrial level where manufacturing should be cheap, fast and with high throughput. One approach to this problem has been to develop processes of material deposition and device fabrication via solution-based additive manufacturing techniques such as printing. Specifically, it is envisioned that (in)organic functional nanomaterial that can be processed into solution form can be deposited in a precise manner (i.e., printed) onto sheets of flexible plastic/glass in a process similar to the printing of newspaper (formally, the process is dubbed Roll-to-Roll). This work is focused on experimentally studying and developing one type of solution-based material deposition technique---drop-on-demand ink-jet printing. This technique allows highly-repeatable deposition of small (pico-liter) droplets of functional ink in precise locations on a given target substrate. Although the technology has been in existence and in continuous use for many decades in the paper graphics industry, its application to nanotechnology-based fabrication processes on non-porous substrates presents many challenges stemming from the coupling of the wetting, material transport, evaporation and solid deposition phenomena that occur when printing patterns more complex than single droplets. The focus of this research has been to investigate these phenomena for the case of printed rivulets of water-based inks. A custom ink-jet apparatus has been assembled to allow direct optical observation of the flow and deposition that occur during printing. Experimental results show the importance of substrate surface energy and

Passive low-cost inkjet-printed smart skin sensor for structural health monitoring

KAUST Repository

Cook, Benjamin Stassen

2012-11-20

Monitoring fatigue cracking of large engineering structures is a costly and time-intensive process. The authors\\' present the first low-cost inkjet-printed patch antenna sensor that can passively detect crack formation, orientation and shape by means of resonant frequency shifts in the two resonant modes of the antenna. For the first time, the effect of non-linear crack shapes on the parallel and perpendicular resonant modes of a patch antenna is quantified with simulation and measurement. This study presents a step towards fully integrated, low-cost, conformal and environmentally friendly smart skins for real-time monitoring of large structures. © The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2012.

Preparation of an aqueous graphitic ink for thermal drop-on-demand inkjet printing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Romagnoli, Marcello; Lassinantti Gualtieri, Magdalena, E-mail: magdalena.gualtieri@unimore.it; Cannio, Maria; Barbieri, Francesco; Giovanardi, Roberto

2016-10-01

A graphitic ink for thermal DOD inkjet printing was developed. Challenges to be met were related to the small size of the getting nozzle (20 μm), demanding high dispersion stability of submicron particles, as well as to the physical requirements of the printer. In addition, solvents potentially hazardous to human health were excluded a priori. These necessities led to the development of a ternary aqueous solvent system based on 2-propanol and monoethylene glycol, offering an environmental-friendly alternative to conventional graphene solvents. In addition, high flexibility in terms of physical properties (e.g. surface tension, viscosity, density) important for jetting is obtained. Size reduction and exfoliation, accomplished by wet-grinding of graphite in the presence of a surfactant, were followed by laser diffraction and XRD line broadening analyses, respectively. The separated graphitic colloids used for preparation of inks were composed of ca 30 layers of AB–stacked graphene flakes, as determined by line broadening analyses (XRD data). Jetting of an ink with a solid content of 0.3 mg/mL gave a thickness increase of ca. 25 nm/pass, as determined by FESEM. Electrical characterization evidenced the need to remove residual organic molecules to regain the electrical properties of the graphitic particles. - Highlights: • A non-hazardous graphitic ink for thermal DOD inkjet printing was developed. • The ternary mixture water/ethylene glycol/2-propanol is suitable as solvent. • Physical properties important for jetting is tailored by solvent composition. • Surfactant-aided grinding gives exfoliation of graphite without inflicting microstrain.

Very Low-Cost 80-Bit Chipless-RFID Tags Inkjet Printed on Ordinary Paper

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristian Herrojo

2018-05-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a time-domain, chipless-RFID system with 80-bit tags inkjet-printed on ordinary DIN A4 paper. The tags, consisting of a linear chain of resonant elements (with as many resonators as the number of identification bits plus header bits, are read sequentially and by proximity (through near-field coupling. To this end, a transmission line, fed by a harmonic (interrogation signal tuned to the resonance frequency of the tag resonators (or close to it, is used as a reader. Thus, during reader operation, the tag chain is mechanically shifted over the transmission line so that the coupling between the line and the functional resonant elements of the tag chain is favored. Logic states that ‘1’ and ‘0’ are determined by the functionality and non-functionality (resonator detuning, respectively, of the resonant elements of the chain. Through near-field coupling, the transmission coefficient of the line is modulated and, as a result, the output signal is modulated in amplitude (AM, which is the identification code contained in the envelope function. As long as the tags are inkjet-printed on ordinary DIN A4 paper, the cost is minimal. Moreover, such tags can be easily programmed and erased, so that identical tags can be fabricated on a large scale (and programmed at a later stage, further reducing the cost of manufacture. The reported prototype tags, with 80 bits of information plus four header bits, demonstrate the potential of this approach, which is of particular interest to secure paper applications.

Facile 3D Metal Electrode Fabrication for Energy Applications via Inkjet Printing and Shape Memory Polymer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberts, R C; Wu, J; Li, D C; Hau, N Y; Chang, Y H; Feng, S P

2014-01-01

This paper reports on a simple 3D metal electrode fabrication technique via inkjet printing onto a thermally contracting shape memory polymer (SMP) substrate. Inkjet printing allows for the direct patterning of structures from metal nanoparticle bearing liquid inks. After deposition, these inks require thermal curing steps to render a stable conductive film. By printing onto a SMP substrate, the metal nanoparticle ink can be cured and substrate shrunk simultaneously to create 3D metal microstructures, forming a large surface area topology well suited for energy applications. Polystyrene SMP shrinkage was characterized in a laboratory oven from 150-240°C, resulting in a size reduction of 1.97-2.58. Silver nanoparticle ink was patterned into electrodes, shrunk, and the topology characterized using scanning electron microscopy. Zinc-Silver Oxide microbatteries were fabricated to demonstrate the 3D electrodes compared to planar references. Characterization was performed using 10M potassium hydroxide electrolyte solution doped with zinc oxide (57g/L). After a 300s oxidation at 3Vdc, the 3D electrode battery demonstrated a 125% increased capacity over the reference cell. Reference cells degraded with longer oxidations, but the 3D electrodes were fully oxidized for 4 hours, and exhibited a capacity of 5.5mA-hr/cm 2 with stable metal performance

Rayleigh Instability-Assisted Satellite Droplets Elimination in Inkjet Printing.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Qiang; Li, Huizeng; Li, Mingzhu; Li, Yanan; Chen, Shuoran; Bao, Bin; Song, Yanlin

2017-11-29

Elimination of satellite droplets in inkjet printing has long been desired for high-resolution and precision printing of functional materials and tissues. Generally, the strategy to suppress satellite droplets is to control ink properties, such as viscosity or surface tension, to assist ink filaments in retracting into one drop. However, this strategy brings new restrictions to the ink, such as ink viscosity, surface tension, and concentration. Here, we report an alternative strategy that the satellite droplets are eliminated by enhancing Rayleigh instability of filament at the break point to accelerate pinch-off of the droplet from the nozzle. A superhydrophobic and ultralow adhesive nozzle with cone morphology exhibits the capability to eliminate satellite droplets by cutting the ink filament at breakup point effectively. As a result, the nozzles with different sizes (10-80 μm) are able to print more inks (1 printing electronics and biotechnologies.

Inkjet-printed p-type nickel oxide thin-film transistor

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Hailong; Zhu, Jingguang; Chen, Maosheng; Guo, Tailiang; Li, Fushan

2018-05-01

High-performance inkjet-printed nickel oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs) with Al2O3 high-k dielectric have been fabricated using a sol-gel precursor ink. The "coffee ring" effect during the printing process was facilely restrained by modifying the viscosity of the ink to control the outward capillary flow. The impacts on the device performance was studied in detail in consideration of annealing temperature of the nickel oxide film and the properties of dielectric layer. The optimized switching ability of the device were achieved at an annealing temperature of 280 °C on a 50-nm-thick Al2O3 dielectric layer, with a hole mobility of 0.78 cm2/V·s, threshold voltage of -0.6 V and on/off current ratio of 5.3 × 104. The as-printed p-type oxide TFTs show potential application in low-cost, large-area complementary electronic devices.

Adult rat retinal ganglion cells and glia can be printed by piezoelectric inkjet printing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lorber, Barbara; Martin, Keith R; Hsiao, Wen-Kai; Hutchings, Ian M

2014-01-01

We have investigated whether inkjet printing technology can be extended to print cells of the adult rat central nervous system (CNS), retinal ganglion cells (RGC) and glia, and the effects on survival and growth of these cells in culture, which is an important step in the development of tissue grafts for regenerative medicine, and may aid in the cure of blindness. We observed that RGC and glia can be successfully printed using a piezoelectric printer. Whilst inkjet printing reduced the cell population due to sedimentation within the printing system, imaging of the printhead nozzle, which is the area where the cells experience the greatest shear stress and rate, confirmed that there was no evidence of destruction or even significant distortion of the cells during jet ejection and drop formation. Importantly, the viability of the cells was not affected by the printing process. When we cultured the same number of printed and non-printed RGC/glial cells, there was no significant difference in cell survival and RGC neurite outgrowth. In addition, use of a glial substrate significantly increased RGC neurite outgrowth, and this effect was retained when the cells had been printed. In conclusion, printing of RGC and glia using a piezoelectric printhead does not adversely affect viability and survival/growth of the cells in culture. Importantly, printed glial cells retain their growth-promoting properties when used as a substrate, opening new avenues for printed CNS grafts in regenerative medicine. (paper)

Physical properties investigation of reduced graphene oxide thin films prepared by material inkjet printing

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Schmiedová, V.; Pospíšil, J.; Kovalenko, A.; Ashcheulov, Petr; Fekete, Ladislav; Cubon, T.; Kotrusz, P.; Zmeškal, O.; Weiter, M.

2017-01-01

Roč. 2017, Aug (2017), s. 1-8, č. článku 3501903. ISSN 1687-4110 R&D Projects: GA MŠk LO1409; GA MŠk LM2015088; GA ČR(CZ) GA15-05095S Grant - others:SAFMAT(XE) CZ.2.16/3.1.00/22132; GA MŠk(CZ) LO1211 Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : graphene oxide * thin film * transparent electrode * inkjet printing Subject RIV: BM - Solid Matter Physics ; Magnetism OBOR OECD: Condensed matter physics (including formerly solid state physics, supercond.) Impact factor: 1.871, year: 2016

All-inkjet-printed flexible electronics fabrication on a polymer substrate by low-temperature high-resolution selective laser sintering of metal nanoparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ko, Seung H; Pan Heng; Grigoropoulos, Costas P; Luscombe, Christine K; Frechet, Jean M J; Poulikakos, Dimos

2007-01-01

All-printed electronics is the key technology to ultra-low-cost, large-area electronics. As a critical step in this direction, we demonstrate that laser sintering of inkjet-printed metal nanoparticles enables low-temperature metal deposition as well as high-resolution patterning to overcome the resolution limitation of the current inkjet direct writing processes. To demonstrate this process combined with the implementation of air-stable carboxylate-functionalized polythiophenes, high-resolution organic transistors were fabricated in ambient pressure and room temperature without utilizing any photolithographic steps or requiring a vacuum deposition process. Local thermal control of the laser sintering process could minimize the heat-affected zone and the thermal damage to the substrate and further enhance the resolution of the process. This local nanoparticle deposition and energy coupling enable an environmentally friendly and cost-effective process as well as a low-temperature manufacturing sequence to realize large-area, flexible electronics on polymer substrates

An inkjet vision measurement technique for high-frequency jetting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kwon, Kye-Si, E-mail: kskwon@sch.ac.kr; Jang, Min-Hyuck; Park, Ha Yeong [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Soonchunhyang University 22, Soonchunhyang-Ro, Shinchang, Asan Chungnam 336-745 (Korea, Republic of); Ko, Hyun-Seok [Department of Electrical and Robot Engineering, Soonchunhyang University, 22, Soonchunhyang-Ro, Shinchang, Asan Chungnam 336-745 (Korea, Republic of)

2014-06-15

Inkjet technology has been used as manufacturing a tool for printed electronics. To increase the productivity, the jetting frequency needs to be increased. When using high-frequency jetting, the printed pattern quality could be non-uniform since the jetting performance characteristics including the jetting speed and droplet volume could vary significantly with increases in jet frequency. Therefore, high-frequency jetting behavior must be evaluated properly for improvement. However, it is difficult to measure high-frequency jetting behavior using previous vision analysis methods, because subsequent droplets are close or even merged. In this paper, we present vision measurement techniques to evaluate the drop formation of high-frequency jetting. The proposed method is based on tracking target droplets such that subsequent droplets can be excluded in the image analysis by focusing on the target droplet. Finally, a frequency sweeping method for jetting speed and droplet volume is presented to understand the overall jetting frequency effects on jetting performance.

An inkjet vision measurement technique for high-frequency jetting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, Kye-Si; Jang, Min-Hyuck; Park, Ha Yeong; Ko, Hyun-Seok

2014-01-01

Inkjet technology has been used as manufacturing a tool for printed electronics. To increase the productivity, the jetting frequency needs to be increased. When using high-frequency jetting, the printed pattern quality could be non-uniform since the jetting performance characteristics including the jetting speed and droplet volume could vary significantly with increases in jet frequency. Therefore, high-frequency jetting behavior must be evaluated properly for improvement. However, it is difficult to measure high-frequency jetting behavior using previous vision analysis methods, because subsequent droplets are close or even merged. In this paper, we present vision measurement techniques to evaluate the drop formation of high-frequency jetting. The proposed method is based on tracking target droplets such that subsequent droplets can be excluded in the image analysis by focusing on the target droplet. Finally, a frequency sweeping method for jetting speed and droplet volume is presented to understand the overall jetting frequency effects on jetting performance

Inkjet printing of antiviral PCL nanoparticles and anticancer cyclodextrin inclusion complexes on bioadhesive film for cervical administration.

Science.gov (United States)

Varan, Cem; Wickström, Henrika; Sandler, Niklas; Aktaş, Yeşim; Bilensoy, Erem

2017-10-15

Personalized medicine is an important treatment approach for diseases like cancer with high intrasubject variability. In this framework, printing is one of the most promising methods since it permits dose and geometry adjustment of the final product. With this study, a combination product consisting of anticancer (paclitaxel) and antiviral (cidofovir) drugs was manufactured by inkjet printing onto adhesive film for local treatment of cervical cancers as a result of HPV infection. Furthermore, solubility problem of paclitaxel was overcome by maintaining this poorly soluble drug in a cyclodextrin inclusion complex and release of cidofovir was controlled by encapsulation in polycaprolactone nanoparticles. In vitro characterization studies of printed film formulations were performed and cell culture studies showed that drug loaded film formulation was effective on human cervical adenocarcinoma cells. Our study suggests that inkjet printing technology can be utilized in the development of antiviral/anticancer combination dosage forms for mucosal application. The drug amount in the delivery system can be accurately controlled and modified. Moreover, prolonged drug release time can be obtained. Printing of anticancer and antiviral drugs on film seem to be a potential approach for HPV-related cervical cancer treatment and a good candidate for further studies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Second generation anthropomorphic physical phantom for mammography and DBT: Incorporating voxelized 3D printing and inkjet printing of iodinated lesion inserts

Science.gov (United States)

Sikaria, Dhiraj; Musinsky, Stephanie; Sturgeon, Gregory M.; Solomon, Justin; Diao, Andrew; Gehm, Michael E.; Samei, Ehsan; Glick, Stephen J.; Lo, Joseph Y.

2016-03-01

Physical phantoms are needed for the evaluation and optimization of new digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) systems. Previously, we developed an anthropomorphic phantom based on human subject breast CT data and fabricated using commercial 3D printing. We now present three key advancements: voxelized 3D printing, photopolymer material doping, and 2D inkjet printing of lesion inserts. First, we bypassed the printer's control software in order to print in voxelized form instead of conventional STL surfaces, thus improving resolution and allowing dithering to mix the two photopolymer materials into arbitrary proportions. We demonstrated ability to print details as small as 150μm, and dithering to combine VeroWhitePlus and TangoPlus in 10% increments. Second, to address the limited attenuation difference among commercial photopolymers, we evaluated a beta sample from Stratasys with increased TiO2 doping concentration up to 2.5%, which corresponded to 98% breast density. By spanning 36% to 98% breast density, this doubles our previous contrast. Third, using inkjet printers modified to print with iopamidol, we created 2D lesion patterns on paper that can be sandwiched into the phantom. Inkjet printing has advantages of being inexpensive and easy, and more contrast can be delivered through overprinting. Printing resolution was maintained at 210 μm horizontally and 330 μm vertically even after 10 overprints. Contrast increased linearly with overprinting at 0.7% per overprint. Together, these three new features provide the basis for creating a new anthropomorphic physical breast phantom with improved resolution and contrast, as well as the ability to insert 2D lesions for task-based assessment of performance.

Insitu synthesis of self-assembled gold nanoparticles on glass or silicon substrates through reactive inkjet printing

KAUST Repository

Abulikemu, Mutalifu

2013-12-18

A facile and low cost method for the synthesis of self-assembled nanoparticles (NPs) with minimal size variation and chemical waste by using reactive inkjet printing was developed. Gold NPs with diameters as small as (8±2)nm can be made at low temperature (120 °C). The size of the resulting NPs can be readily controlled through the concentration of the gold precursor and oleylamine ink. The pure gold composition of the synthesized NPs was confirmed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS) analysis. High-resolution SEM (HRSEM) and TEM (HRTEM), and X-ray diffraction revealed their size and face-centered cubic (fcc) crystal structure, respectively. Owing to the high density of the NP film, UV/Vis spectroscopy showed a red shift in the intrinsic plasmonic resonance peak. We envision the extension of this approach to the synthesis of other nanomaterials and the production of tailored functional nanomaterials and devices. Midas touch: The use of low-cost manufacturing approaches in the synthesis of nanoparticles is critical for many applications. Reactive inkjet printing, along with a judicious choice of precursor/solvent system, was used to synthesize a relatively uniform assembly of crystalline gold nanoparticles, with diameters as small as (8±2)nm, over a given substrate surface. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH.

Multiscale patterning of nanocomposite polyelectrolyte/nanoparticle films using inkjet printing and AFM scratching

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leigh, S J; Bowen, J; Preece, J A

2015-01-01

The fabrication of structured polymer/nanoparticle composite films through a combination of additive, subtractive and self-assembly methodologies is investigated. Consumer grade inkjet printing hardware is employed to deposit cationic polyelectrolytes on (i) hydrophilic and (ii) hydrophobised glass substrates. The hydrophobisation process controls the spreading of the droplets and hence the lateral size of printed features. The printed cationic polyelectrolyte regions are used as a template to direct the self-assembly of negatively charged gold nanoparticles onto the surface. Micro-scale features are created in the polyelectrolyte/nanoparticle films using AFM scratching to selectively displace material. The effect of substrate wettability on film morphology is discussed. (paper)

Direct Inkjet Printing of Silver Source/Drain Electrodes on an Amorphous InGaZnO Layer for Thin-Film Transistors.

Science.gov (United States)

Ning, Honglong; Chen, Jianqiu; Fang, Zhiqiang; Tao, Ruiqiang; Cai, Wei; Yao, Rihui; Hu, Shiben; Zhu, Zhennan; Zhou, Yicong; Yang, Caigui; Peng, Junbiao

2017-01-10

Printing technologies for thin-film transistors (TFTs) have recently attracted much interest owing to their eco-friendliness, direct patterning, low cost, and roll-to-roll manufacturing processes. Lower production costs could result if electrodes fabricated by vacuum processes could be replaced by inkjet printing. However, poor interfacial contacts and/or serious diffusion between the active layer and the silver electrodes are still problematic for achieving amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) TFTs with good electrical performance. In this paper, silver (Ag) source/drain electrodes were directly inkjet-printed on an amorphous a-IGZO layer to fabricate TFTs that exhibited a mobility of 0.29 cm²·V -1 ·s -1 and an on/off current ratio of over 10⁵. To the best of our knowledge, this is a major improvement for bottom-gate top-contact a-IGZO TFTs with directly printed silver electrodes on a substrate with no pretreatment. This study presents a promising alternative method of fabricating electrodes of a-IGZO TFTs with desirable device performance.

Direct Inkjet Printing of Silver Source/Drain Electrodes on an Amorphous InGaZnO Layer for Thin-Film Transistors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Honglong Ning

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Printing technologies for thin-film transistors (TFTs have recently attracted much interest owing to their eco-friendliness, direct patterning, low cost, and roll-to-roll manufacturing processes. Lower production costs could result if electrodes fabricated by vacuum processes could be replaced by inkjet printing. However, poor interfacial contacts and/or serious diffusion between the active layer and the silver electrodes are still problematic for achieving amorphous indium–gallium–zinc–oxide (a-IGZO TFTs with good electrical performance. In this paper, silver (Ag source/drain electrodes were directly inkjet-printed on an amorphous a-IGZO layer to fabricate TFTs that exhibited a mobility of 0.29 cm2·V−1·s−1 and an on/off current ratio of over 105. To the best of our knowledge, this is a major improvement for bottom-gate top-contact a-IGZO TFTs with directly printed silver electrodes on a substrate with no pretreatment. This study presents a promising alternative method of fabricating electrodes of a-IGZO TFTs with desirable device performance.

Characterization of inkjet-printing HF and UHF antennas for RFID applications

Science.gov (United States)

Tarapata, Grzegorz; Paczesny, Daniel; Kawecki, Krzysztof

2013-10-01

The aim of this work was to perform a set of RFID antennas on flexible plastic substrates designed for range of HF and UHF band. The samples was fabricated using inkjet printing technology and conductive material base on silver nanopartilces ink. Fabricated antennas have been characterized, and the results were compared with the parameters of antennas made with usage of classical PCB technology on FR4 laminate with copper metallization. The paper presents studies on the impact of elastic substrates and conductive materials on antennas electrical parameters, as well as the communication range of the resulting RFID tags. During the experiment two patterns of HF and three patterns of UHF antennas was examined and the antennas was realized on different types of substrates, such as PET, Kapton® and FR4.

Thin-film morphology of inkjet-printed single-droplet organic transistors using polarized Raman spectroscopy: effect of blending TIPS-pentacene with insulating polymer

NARCIS (Netherlands)

James, D.T.; Kjellander, B.K.C.; Smaal, W.T.T.; Gelinck, G.H.; Combe, C.; McCulloch, I.; Wilson, R.; Burroughes, J.H.; Bradley, D.D.C.; Kim, J.S.

2011-01-01

We report thin-film morphology studies of inkjet-printed single-droplet organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) using angle-dependent polarized Raman spectroscopy. We show this to be an effective technique to determine the degree of molecular order as well as to spatially resolve the orientation of

Pre-logging Treatment of Invasive Glossy Buckthorn (Frangula alnus Mill. Promotes Regeneration of Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus L.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas D. Lee

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Non-native glossy buckthorn (Frangula alnus Mill. is invasive in forests of the northeastern USA but little is known of its effects on tree regeneration. We tested whether killing buckthorn stems before logging reduces its post-logging abundance and increases the density and height of eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L. seedlings. Three 0.4 ha plots were clearcut, three were thinned, and three were left as controls. Each plot had previously been divided into three subplots that received different buckthorn treatments during the two years before logging. Buckthorn treatments were (1 stems cut at base five times; (2 stems cut once then heat killed four times; (3 untreated control. Three years post-logging, buckthorn density and stem height were unaffected by logging but equally reduced by the two buckthorn treatments. Buckthorn reduction increased density and height of pine seedlings, and seedling height also increased with logging. In the fifth year post-logging, pine height growth and biomass were greater in clearcut than in thinned treatments, greater in areas of buckthorn removal and, within treated subplots, greater in areas with low buckthorn density than in thickets of recovering buckthorn. Thus, although buckthorn inhibited regenerating pine, pre-logging destruction of buckthorn stems reduced such competition for at least four years.

Comparison of inkjet-printed silver conductors on different microsystem substrates

Science.gov (United States)

Kruger, Jené; Bezuidenhout, Petroné H.; Joubert, Trudi-Heleen

2016-02-01

Applications for diagnostic and environmental point-of-need require processes and building blocks to add smart features to disposable biosensors on low-cost substrates. A novel method for producing such biosensors is printing electronics using additive technologies. This work contributes to the toolbox of processes, materials and components for printed electronics manufacturing - as well as rapid prototyping - of circuits. Printing protocols were developed to facilitate successful inkjet printing of nanosilver ink (Harima NPS-JL) onto different microsystem substrates using a functional printer (Dimatix DMP-3281). Photo paper is a standard inkjet substrate, which were compared with glass, polycarbonate (PC), plastic projector transparency foil, and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Comparison attributes include physical and electrical properties. The layout design comprised dogbone elements of 8 mm length, and widths varying between 100 μm and 2 mm. All printed features were thermally cured for 1 hour at 120 °C. The physical characteristics were measured with a laser scanning microscope (Zeiss LSM-5) to determine the width, thickness and surface roughness of the printed features. An LCR meter (GW-Instek 8110) was used to measure the printed structures' electrical characteristics (resistance, capacitance and inductance). A lumped element model and layout design rules were extracted to assist in standardized design procedures. The model incorporates prediction of the bandwidth attainable with these structures. The layer thickness on all substrates is larger than the 1 μm on photo paper, and varies between 1.6 μm (PC) and 7 μm (PDMS). The spreading for PDMS is similar to photo paper, but since for the other substrates it is between 5 (glass) and 10 (PC) times larger than for photo paper, the layout design rules require large spacing, leading to larger area networks. Electrical probing on the PDMS is not consistent and results are inconclusive. For the other substrates

High-Resolution Printing of 3D Structures Using an Electrohydrodynamic Inkjet with Multiple Functional Inks.

Science.gov (United States)

An, Byeong Wan; Kim, Kukjoo; Lee, Heejoo; Kim, So-Yun; Shim, Yulhui; Lee, Dae-Young; Song, Jun Yeob; Park, Jang-Ung

2015-08-05

Electrohydrodynamic-inkjet-printed high-resolution complex 3D structures with multiple functional inks are demonstrated. Printed 3D structures can have a variety of fine patterns, such as vertical or helix-shaped pillars and straight or rounded walls, with high aspect ratios (greater than ≈50) and narrow diameters (≈0.7 μm). Furthermore, the formation of freestanding, bridge-like Ag wire structures on plastic substrates suggests substantial potentials as high-precision, flexible 3D interconnects. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Self-reduction of a copper complex MOD ink for inkjet printing conductive patterns on plastics.

Science.gov (United States)

Farraj, Yousef; Grouchko, Michael; Magdassi, Shlomo

2015-01-31

Highly conductive copper patterns on low-cost flexible substrates are obtained by inkjet printing a metal complex based ink. Upon heating the ink, the soluble complex, which is composed of copper formate and 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol, decomposes under nitrogen at 140 °C and is converted to pure metallic copper. The decomposition process of the complex is investigated and a suggested mechanism is presented. The ink is stable in air for prolonged periods, with no sedimentation or oxidation problems, which are usually encountered in copper nanoparticle based inks.

Graphene-based inkjet printing of flexible bioelectronic circuits and sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Sinar, Dogan; Knopf, George K.; Nikumb, Suwas

2013-03-01

Bioelectronics involves interfacing functional biomolecules or living cells with electronic circuitry. Recent advances in electrically conductive inks and inkjet printing technologies have enabled bioelectronic devices to be fabricated on mechanically flexible polymers, paper and silk. In this research, non-conductive graphene-oxide (GO) inks are synthesized from inexpensive graphite powders. Once printed on the flexible substrate the electrical conductivity of the micro-circuitry can be restored through thermal reduction. Laser irradiation is one method being investigated for transforming the high resistance printed GO film into conductive oxygen reduced graphene-oxide (rGO). Direct laser writing is a precision fabrication process that enables the imprinting of conductive and resistive micro-features on the GO film. The mechanically flexible rGO microcircuits can be further biofunctionalized using molecular self-assembly techniques. Opportunities and challenges in exploiting these emerging technologies for developing biosensors and bioelectronic cicruits are briefly discussed.

Inkjet 3D printing of microfluidic structures—on the selection of the printer towards printing your own microfluidic chips

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walczak, Rafał; Adamski, Krzysztof

2015-01-01

This article reports, for the first time, the results of detailed research on the application of inkjet 3D printing for the fabrication of microfluidic structures. CAD designed test structures were printed with four different printers. Dimensional fidelity, shape conformity, and surface roughness were studied for each printout. It was found that the minimum dimension (width or depth) for a properly printed microfluidic channel was approximately 200 μm. Although the nominal resolution of the printers was one order of magnitude better, smaller structures were significantly deformed or not printed at all. It was also found that a crucial step in one-step fabrication of embedded microchannels is the removal of the support material. We also discuss the source of print error and present a way to evaluate other printers. The printouts obtained from the four different printers were compared, and the optimal printing technique and printer were used to fabricate a microfluidic structure for the spectrophotometric characterisation of beverages. UV/VIS absorbance characteristics were collected using this microfluidic structure, demonstrating that the fabricated spectrophotometric chip operated properly. Thus, a proof-of-concept for using inkjet 3D printing for the fabrication of microfluidic structures was obtained. (paper)

CF4 plasma treatment-assisted inkjet printing for color pixel flexible display

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tortissier, G; Daunay, B; Jalabert, L; Lambert, P; Kim, B; Fujita, H; Toshiyoshi, H; Ginet, P

2011-01-01

In this paper we report a MEMS flexible display device based on the color filter Fabry–Perot interferometer and fabricated on a transparent and flexible polyethylene naphthalate substrate. Targeting easy processing, fast evolution and reduced fabrication steps, inkjet printing is selected as a promising technology. CF 4 plasma surface treatment parameters' influence has been investigated through a design of experiment protocol. Important contact angle increase has led to pattern resolution between 50 and 100 µm depending on solutions and substrate nature. Finally, the designed device presents three primary color pixels with satisfying color purity (CIE 1931 chromaticity diagram—red: x = 0.52, y = 0.36; blue: x = 0.13, y = 0.20; green: x = 0.25, y = 0.57).

Inkjet-printed "Zero-Power" Wireless Sensor and Power Management Nodes for IoT and "Smart Skin" Applications

OpenAIRE

Traille, A.; Georgiadis, Apostolos; Collado, Ana; Kawahara, Y.; Aubert, H.; Tentzeris, M.M.

2014-01-01

Nanotechnology and inkjet-printed flexible electronics, sensor and power management (PMU) nodes fabricated on paper, plastic and other polymer substrates are introduced as a sustainable ultra-low-cost solution for the first paradigms of Internet of Things (IoT), “Smart Skins” and “Zero-Power” applications. The paper will cover examples from the state-of-the-art of fully integrated wireless sensor modules on paper or flexible polymers. We will demonstrate numerous 3D multilayer paper-based and...

Nanoscale Resolution 3D Printing with Pin-Modified Electrified Inkjets for Tailorable Nano/Macrohybrid Constructs for Tissue Engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jeong In; Kim, Cheol Sang

2018-04-18

Cells respond to their microenvironment, which is of a size comparable to that of the cells. The macroscale features of three-dimensional (3D) printing struts typically result in whole cell contact guidance (CCG). In contrast, at the nanoscale, where features are of a size similar to that of receptors of cells, the response of cells is more complex. The cell-nanotopography interaction involves nanoscale adhesion localized structures, which include cell adhesion-related particles that change in response to the clustering of integrin. For this reason, it is necessary to develop a technique for manufacturing tailorable nano/macrohybrid constructs capable of freely controlling the cellular activity. In this study, a hierarchical 3D nano- to microscale hybrid structure was fabricated by combinational processing of 3D printing and electrified inkjet spinning via pin motions. This method overcomes the disadvantages of conventional 3D printing, providing a novel combinatory technique for the fabrication of 3D hybrid constructs with excellent cell proliferation. Through a pin-modified electrified inkjet spinning, we have successfully fabricated customizable nano-/microscale hybrid constructs in a fibrous or mesh form, which can control the cell fate. We have conducted this study of cell-topography interactions from the fabrication approach to accelerate the development of next-generation 3D scaffolds.

A half mode inkjet printed tunable ferrite isolator

KAUST Repository

Ghaffar, Farhan A.

2017-10-24

A novel half mode waveguide based ferrite isolator design is presented in this work. For the first time, tunability of the isolation band is demonstrated for a ferrite isolator. Instead of using the conventional antisymmetric bias the isolator requires a single direction of the magnetic bias field due to the half mode operation. Yttrium Iron Garnet (YIG) is used as the substrate for the device. The metallic walls of the waveguide are realized using inkjet printing. The magnetic biasing applied to the waveguide causes the RF waves to experience negative permeability in one direction of propagation hence providing isolation for this direction. For an applied bias of 3000 Oe, the device provides a maximum isolation figure of merit of 76.7 dB at 7.5 GHz. The isolation band can be controlled by changing the applied magnetostatic bias. As the bias is varied from 1500 Oe to 3500 Oe the center frequency of the isolation band varies from 4.45 GHz to 9 GHz. The measured response of the isolator shows that it can be integrated in any RF system requiring lower cost and good isolation.

Freeform inkjet printing of cellular structures with bifurcations.

Science.gov (United States)

Christensen, Kyle; Xu, Changxue; Chai, Wenxuan; Zhang, Zhengyi; Fu, Jianzhong; Huang, Yong

2015-05-01

Organ printing offers a great potential for the freeform layer-by-layer fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) living organs using cellular spheroids or bioinks as building blocks. Vascularization is often identified as a main technological barrier for building 3D organs. As such, the fabrication of 3D biological vascular trees is of great importance for the overall feasibility of the envisioned organ printing approach. In this study, vascular-like cellular structures are fabricated using a liquid support-based inkjet printing approach, which utilizes a calcium chloride solution as both a cross-linking agent and support material. This solution enables the freeform printing of spanning and overhang features by providing a buoyant force. A heuristic approach is implemented to compensate for the axially-varying deformation of horizontal tubular structures to achieve a uniform diameter along their axial directions. Vascular-like structures with both horizontal and vertical bifurcations have been successfully printed from sodium alginate only as well as mouse fibroblast-based alginate bioinks. The post-printing fibroblast cell viability of printed cellular tubes was found to be above 90% even after a 24 h incubation, considering the control effect. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Inkjet printed paper based frequency selective surfaces and skin mounted RFID tags : the interrelation between silver nanoparticle ink, paper substrate and low temperature sintering technique

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sanchez-Romaquera, V.; Wïnscher, S.; Turki, B.M.; Abbel, R.J.; Barbosa, S.; Tate, D.J.; Oyeka, D.; Batchelor, J.C.; Parker, E.A.; Schubert, U.S.; Yeates, S.G.

2015-01-01

Inkjet printing of functional frequency selective surfaces (FSS) and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on commercial paper substrates using silver nanoparticle inks sintered using low temperature thermal, plasma and photonic techniques is reported. Printed and sintered FSS devices

3.56-bits/cm Compact Inkjet Printed and Application Specific Chipless RFID Tag

KAUST Repository

Khan, Munawar M.

2015-10-26

© 2002-2011 IEEE. In this letter, a 28.5-bit chipless RFID tag, based on paper substrate and realized using inkjet printing technique is presented. Operating within ultrawideband, the tag occupies a compact size of 2 × 4 cm2. Focusing on applications requiring time and date identification, a novel encoding technique is presented that allows efficient frequency band allocation based on the number of required instances of time and date variables. A figure of merit (FOM) relating coding capacity and tag dimensions coined as code density is also introduced. A systematic design process followed by simulations and verified through measurements reveal a high code density of 3.56 bits/cm2 for the presented chipless tag.

Scalable Inkjet-Based Structural Color Printing by Molding Transparent Gratings on Multilayer Nanostructured Surfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Hao; Kaminska, Bozena

2018-04-24

To enable customized manufacturing of structural colors for commercial applications, up-scalable, low-cost, rapid, and versatile printing techniques are highly demanded. In this paper, we introduce a viable strategy for scaling up production of custom-input images by patterning individual structural colors on separate layers, which are then vertically stacked and recombined into full-color images. By applying this strategy on molded-ink-on-nanostructured-surface printing, we present an industry-applicable inkjet structural color printing technique termed multilayer molded-ink-on-nanostructured-surface (M-MIONS) printing, in which structural color pixels are molded on multiple layers of nanostructured surfaces. Transparent colorless titanium dioxide nanoparticles were inkjet-printed onto three separate transparent polymer substrates, and each substrate surface has one specific subwavelength grating pattern for molding the deposited nanoparticles into structural color pixels of red, green, or blue primary color. After index-matching lamination, the three layers were vertically stacked and bonded to display a color image. Each primary color can be printed into a range of different shades controlled through a half-tone process, and full colors were achieved by mixing primary colors from three layers. In our experiments, an image size as big as 10 cm by 10 cm was effortlessly achieved, and even larger images can potentially be printed on recombined grating surfaces. In one application example, the M-MIONS technique was used for printing customizable transparent color optical variable devices for protecting personalized security documents. In another example, a transparent diffractive color image printed with the M-MIONS technique was pasted onto a transparent panel for overlaying colorful information onto one's view of reality.

3D Inkjet Printed Helical Antenna with Integrated Lens

KAUST Repository

Farooqui, Muhammad Fahad

2016-08-30

The gain of an antenna can be enhanced through the integration of a lens, although this technique has traditionally been restricted to planar antennas due to fabrication limitations of standard manufacturing processes. Here, through a unique combination of 3D and 2D inkjet printing of dielectric and metallic inks respectively, we demonstrate a lens that has been monolithically integrated to a non-planar antenna (helix) for the first time. Antenna measurements show that the integration of a Fresnel lens enhances the gain of a 2-turn helix by around 4.6 dB, which provides a peak gain of about 12.9 dBi at 8.8 GHz. The 3-dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of the antenna with the lens is 5.5%. This work also reports the complete characterization of this new process in terms of minimum features sizes and achievable conductivities. Due to monolithic integration of the lens through a fully printed process, this antenna configuration offers high gain performance by using a low cost and rapid fabrication technique. © 2016 IEEE.

Inkjet printing of conjugated polymer precursors on paper substrates for colorimetric sensing and flexible electrothermochromic display.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, Bora; Ham, Dae-Young; Yarimaga, Oktay; An, Hyosung; Lee, Chan Woo; Kim, Jong-Man

2011-12-08

Inkjet-printable aqueous suspensions of conjugated polymer precursors are developed for fabrication of patterned color images on paper substrates. Printing of a diacetylene (DA)-surfactant composite ink on unmodified paper and photopaper, as well as on a banknote, enables generation of latent images that are transformed to blue-colored polydiacetylene (PDA) structures by UV irradiation. Both irreversible and reversible thermochromism with the PDA printed images are demonstrated and applied to flexible and disposable sensors and to displays. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Inkjet printable-photoactive all inorganic perovskite films with long effective photocarrier lifetimes

Science.gov (United States)

Ilie, C. C.; Guzman, F.; Swanson, B. L.; Evans, I. R.; Costa, P. S.; Teeter, J. D.; Shekhirev, M.; Benker, N.; Sikich, S.; Enders, A.; Dowben, P. A.; Sinitskii, A.; Yost, A. J.

2018-05-01

Photoactive perovskite quantum dot films, deposited via an inkjet printer, have been characterized by x-ray diffraction and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The crystal structure and bonding environment are consistent with CsPbBr3 perovskite quantum dots. The current–voltage (I–V) and capacitance–voltage (C–V) transport measurements indicate that the photo-carrier drift lifetime can exceed 1 ms for some printed perovskite films. This far exceeds the dark drift carrier lifetime, which is below 50 ns. The printed films show a photocarrier density 109 greater than the dark carrier density, making these printed films ideal candidates for application in photodetectors. The successful printing of photoactive-perovskite quantum dot films of CsPbBr3, indicates that the rapid prototyping of various perovskite inks and multilayers is realizable.

Robust Design of a Particle-Free Silver-Organo-Complex Ink with High Conductivity and Inkjet Stability for Flexible Electronics

KAUST Repository

Vaseem, Mohammad

2015-12-29

Currently, silver-nanoparticle-based inkjet ink is commercially available. This type of ink has several serious problems such as a complex synthesis protocol, high cost, high sintering temperatures (∼200 °C), particle aggregation, nozzle clogging, poor shelf life, and jetting instability. For the emerging field of printed electronics, these shortcomings in conductive inks are barriers for their widespread use in practical applications. Formulating particle-free silver inks has potential to solve these issues and requires careful design of the silver complexation. The ink complex must meet various requirements, such as in situ reduction, optimum viscosity, storage and jetting stability, smooth uniform sintered films, excellent adhesion, and high conductivity. This study presents a robust formulation of silver–organo-complex (SOC) ink, where complexing molecules act as reducing agents. The 17 wt % silver loaded ink was printed and sintered on a wide range of substrates with uniform surface morphology and excellent adhesion. The jetting stability was monitored for 5 months to confirm that the ink was robust and highly stable with consistent jetting performance. Radio frequency inductors, which are highly sensitive to metal quality, were demonstrated as a proof of concept on flexible PEN substrate. This is a major step toward producing high-quality electronic components with a robust inkjet printing process.

Robust Design of a Particle-Free Silver-Organo-Complex Ink with High Conductivity and Inkjet Stability for Flexible Electronics

KAUST Repository

Vaseem, Mohammad; McKerricher, Garret; Shamim, Atif

2015-01-01

Currently, silver-nanoparticle-based inkjet ink is commercially available. This type of ink has several serious problems such as a complex synthesis protocol, high cost, high sintering temperatures (∼200 °C), particle aggregation, nozzle clogging, poor shelf life, and jetting instability. For the emerging field of printed electronics, these shortcomings in conductive inks are barriers for their widespread use in practical applications. Formulating particle-free silver inks has potential to solve these issues and requires careful design of the silver complexation. The ink complex must meet various requirements, such as in situ reduction, optimum viscosity, storage and jetting stability, smooth uniform sintered films, excellent adhesion, and high conductivity. This study presents a robust formulation of silver–organo-complex (SOC) ink, where complexing molecules act as reducing agents. The 17 wt % silver loaded ink was printed and sintered on a wide range of substrates with uniform surface morphology and excellent adhesion. The jetting stability was monitored for 5 months to confirm that the ink was robust and highly stable with consistent jetting performance. Radio frequency inductors, which are highly sensitive to metal quality, were demonstrated as a proof of concept on flexible PEN substrate. This is a major step toward producing high-quality electronic components with a robust inkjet printing process.

Decorative design of ceramic tiles adapted to inkjet printing employing digital image processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Defez, B.; Santiago-Praderas, V.; Lluna, E.; Peris-Fajarnes, G.; Dunai, E.

2013-01-01

The ceramic tile sector is a very competitive industry. The designer's proficiency to offer new models of the decorated surface, adapted to the production means, plays a very important role in the competitiveness. In the present work, we analyze the evolution of the design process in the ceramic sector, as much as the changes experimented in parallel by the printing equipment. Afterwards, we present a new concept of ceramic design, based on digital image processing. This technique allows the generation of homogeneous and non-repetitive designs for large surfaces, especially thought for inkjet printing. With the programmed algorithms we have compiled a prototype software for the assistance of the ceramic design. This tool allows creating continuous designs for large surfaces saving developing time. (Author)

Ultralow friction of ink-jet printed graphene flakes.

Science.gov (United States)

Buzio, R; Gerbi, A; Uttiya, S; Bernini, C; Del Rio Castillo, A E; Palazon, F; Siri, A S; Pellegrini, V; Pellegrino, L; Bonaccorso, F

2017-06-08

We report the frictional response of few-layer graphene (FLG) flakes obtained by the liquid phase exfoliation (LPE) of pristine graphite. To this end, we inkjet print FLG on bare and hexamethyldisilazane-terminated SiO 2 substrates, producing micrometric patterns with nanoscopic roughness that are investigated by atomic force microscopy. Normal force spectroscopy and atomically-resolved morphologies indicate reduced surface contamination by solvents after a vacuum annealing process. Notably, the printed FLG flakes show ultralow friction comparable to that of micromechanically exfoliated graphene flakes. Lubricity is retained on flakes with a lateral size of a few tens of nanometres, and with a thickness as small as ∼2 nm, confirming the high crystalline quality and low defects density in the FLG basal plane. Surface exposed step edges exhibit the highest friction values, representing the preferential sites for the origin of the secondary dissipative processes related to edge straining, wear or lateral displacement of the flakes. Our work demonstrates that LPE enables fundamental studies on graphene friction to the single-flake level. The capability to deliver ultralow-friction-graphene over technologically relevant substrates, using a scalable production route and a high-throughput, large-area printing technique, may also open up new opportunities in the lubrication of micro- and nano-electromechanical systems.

A wearable tracking device inkjet-printed on textile

KAUST Repository

Krykpayev, Bauyrzhan

2017-05-20

Despite the abundance of localization applications, the tracking devices have never been truly realized in E-textiles. Standard printed circuit board (PCB)-based devices are obtrusive and rigid and hence not suitable for textile based implementations. An attractive option would be direct printing of circuit layout on the textile itself, negating the use of rigid PCB materials. However, high surface roughness and porosity of textiles prevents efficient and reliable printing of electronics on textile. In this work, by printing an interface layer on the textile first, a complete localization circuit integrated with an antenna has been inkjet-printed on the textile for the first time. Printed conductive traces were optimized in terms of conductivity and resolution by controlling the number of over-printed layers. The tracking device determines the wearer\\'s position using WiFi and this information can be displayed on any internet-enabled device, such as smart phone. The device is compact (55mm×45mm) and lightweight (22g with 500mAh battery) for people to comfortably wear it and can be easily concealed in case discretion is required. The device operates at 2.4GHz communicated up to a distance of 55m, with localization accuracy of up to 8m.

Electrohydrodynamic inkjet printing of Pd loaded SnO2 nanofibers on a CMOS micro hotplate for low power H2 detection

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Hao; Yu, Jun; Cao, Rui; Yang, Yinghua; Tang, Zhenan

2018-05-01

A high-performance low-power micro hotplate (MHP) hydrogen sensor was fabricated through electrohydrodynamic (EHD) inkjet printing technique. Electrospun Pd loaded SnO2 nanofibers with lengths of 250-850 nm were precisely printed on the suspended central part of an MHP with an area of 100 um × 100 um. The printhead in the printing system was a low-cost metallic needle with an inner diameter of 110 um, which was large enough to prevent clogging by the nanofibers. The printing process was observed by a high-speed camera. Small droplets with diameters of 50-80 um were produced at each ejection by providing a high voltage to the metallic needle. It was found that the bridge-type MHPs used in our experiment can promote the positioning precision due to its bound effect to the droplet. In the gas sensing measurement, the Pd loaded SnO2 MHP gas sensor showed a remarkable response to H2 with a low power of only 9.1 mW. The experiment results demonstrate the excellent adequacy of EHD inkjet printing technique to realize effective mass fabrication of MHP gas sensors or sensor arrays.

Duplicating the fine art reproduction process: the technology used for guerilla ink-jet printing

Science.gov (United States)

Herron, Stephen

1998-12-01

Accurate, automatic color reproduction is the goal of much of color technology. However, there is a need to improve reproduction in only the luminous or gray axis. Quadtone reproduction takes advantage of the four device CMYK color planes to provide greater gray-scale depth within the limitations of 8-bit per channel band-width. 'Quadtone' refers to photos reproduced using four tones of the same colorant. It is the printed imposition of four carefully selected shades of ink that result in a greater number of densities. Guerilla printing is a collection of algorithms using the CMYK channels to simulate traditional photography on an inkjet printer. Guerilla printing increases density values, defines detail and produces near continuous-tone screens.

Utilizing wideband AMC structures for high-gain inkjet-printed antennas on lossy paper substrate

KAUST Repository

Cook, Benjamin Stassen

2013-01-01

Significant gain and bandwidth improvement of inkjet-printed antennas with integrated artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) is achieved by utilizing wideband ground-backed frequency selective surfaces (FSSs) to overcome the high losses of organic substrates such as paper. A microstrip-fed monopole mounted on an artificial magnetic conductor is demonstrated to improve the gain by 5 dB over previous works and exhibit much wider impedance bandwidth while maintaining a thin antenna profile and a 20% electrical size reduction. The effect of AMC bandwidth on substrate losses and the gain reduction caused by finite AMC array effects are investigated in an effort to produce high-gain, miniaturized, low-cost wearable and structure mount antennas. © 2013 IEEE.

Inkjet-/3D-/4D-printed autonomous wearable RF modules for biomonitoring, positioning and sensing applications

Science.gov (United States)

Bito, Jo; Bahr, Ryan; Hester, Jimmy; Kimionis, John; Nauroze, Abdullah; Su, Wenjing; Tehrani, Bijan; Tentzeris, Manos M.

2017-05-01

In this paper, numerous inkjet-/3D-/4D-printed wearable flexible antennas, RF electronics, modules and sensors fabricated on paper and other polymer (e.g. LCP) substrates are introduced as a system-level solution for ultra-low-cost mass production of autonomous Biomonitoring, Positioning and Sensing applications. This paper briefly discusses the state-of-the-art area of fully-integrated wearable wireless sensor modules on paper or flexible LCP and show the first ever 4D sensor module integration on paper, as well as numerous 3D and 4D multilayer paper-based and LCP-based RF/microwave, flexible and wearable structures, that could potentially set the foundation for the truly convergent wireless sensor ad-hoc "on-body networks of the future with enhanced cognitive intelligence and "rugged" packaging. Also, some challenges concerning the power sources of "nearperpetual" wearable RF modules, including flexible miniaturized batteries as well as power-scavenging approaches involving electromagnetic and solar energy forms are discuessed. The final step of the paper will involve examples from mmW wearable (e.g. biomonitoring) antennas and RF modules, as well as the first examples of the integration of inkjet-printed nanotechnology-based (e.g.CNT) sensors on paper and organic substrates for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. It has to be noted that the paper will review and present challenges for inkjetprinted organic active and nonlinear devices as well as future directions in the area of environmentally-friendly "green") wearable RF electronics and "smart-skin conformal sensors.

Continuous Hydrothermal Flow Synthesis of Gd-doped CeO2 (GDC) Nanoparticles for Inkjet Printing of SOFC Electrolytes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xu, Yu; Farandos, Nicholas M.; Rosa, Massimo

2018-01-01

nanoparticles were further processed into inks for inkjet printing. Despite the small particle size/large surface area, inks with excellent printing behavior were formulated. For proof-of-concept, thin GDC layers were printed on a) green NiO-GDC substrates, and on b) pre-sintered NiO-YSZ substrates. While...... no dense layers could be obtained on the green NiO-GDC substrates, GDC nanoparticles printed on NiO-YSZ substrates formed a dense continuous layer after firing at 1300 °C....

An inkjet printed near isotropic 3-D antenna with embedded electronics for wireless sensor applications

KAUST Repository

Farooqui, Muhammad Fahad

2014-07-01

A 3-D (cube-shaped) antenna, which has been inkjet printed on a paper substrate and integrated with embedded electronics, is presented for the first time. A 1.5λ0 dipole is uniquely implemented on all the faces of the cube to achieve near isotropic radiation pattern. The antenna measures 13mm × 13mm × 13mm, where each side of the cube corresponds to only 0.1λ0 (at 2.4 GHz). Measurements with driving electronics placed inside the cube have shown that the antenna performance is not affected by the presence of embedded circuits. The cube antenna design is highly suitable for mobile sensing applications.

QR encoded smart oral dosage forms by inkjet printing.

Science.gov (United States)

Edinger, Magnus; Bar-Shalom, Daniel; Sandler, Niklas; Rantanen, Jukka; Genina, Natalja

2018-01-30

The use of inkjet printing (IJP) technology enables the flexible manufacturing of personalized medicine with the doses tailored for each patient. In this study we demonstrate, for the first time, the applicability of IJP in the production of edible dosage forms in the pattern of a quick response (QR) code. This printed pattern contains the drug itself and encoded information relevant to the patient and/or healthcare professionals. IJP of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API)-containing ink in the pattern of QR code was performed onto a newly developed porous and flexible, but mechanically stable substrate with a good absorption capacity. The printing did not affect the mechanical properties of the substrate. The actual drug content of the printed dosage forms was in accordance with the encoded drug content. The QR encoded dosage forms had a good print definition without significant edge bleeding. They were readable by a smartphone even after storage in harsh conditions. This approach of efficient data incorporation and data storage combined with the use of smart devices can lead to safer and more patient-friendly drug products in the future. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ink Penetration of Uncoated Inkjet Paper and Impact on Printing Quality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ren'ai Li

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This study investigated ink penetration through imaging technology, first by gray and contour mapping and then calculating the ink penetration depth by programing. Next, a series of further analyses were carried out, including average ink permeability, ink distributions, and printability of different uncoated inkjet paper with different parameters. The impact on ink penetration of the microstructure and hydrophilicity of the uncoated paper was also studied. The experimental results indicated that paper specimens with sizing agent were resistant to the ink, resulting in a slow and shallow ink penetration. Paper containing filler had a more hydrophilic surface and porous structure, leading to a faster and deeper ink penetration. However, the calendering operation could make the paper structure more compact and reduce the porosity and penetration depth. When an appropriate combination of sizing agent, filler content, and the calendering process was utilized, a more stable hue could be produced with improvements in optical density, saturation, and color.

Numerical and experimental study of actuator performance on piezoelectric microelectromechanical inkjet print head.

Science.gov (United States)

Van So, Pham; Jun, Hyun Woo; Lee, Jaichan

2013-12-01

We have investigated the actuator performance of a piezoelectrically actuated inkjet print head via the numerical and experimental analysis. The actuator consisting of multi-layer membranes, such as piezoelectric, elastic and other buffer layers, and ink chamber was fabricated by MEMS processing. The maximum displacement of the actuator membrane obtained in the experiment is explained by numerical analysis. A simulation of the actuator performance with fluidic damping shows that the resonant frequency of the membrane in liquid is reduced from its resonant frequency in air by a factor of three, which was also verified in the experiment. These simulation and experimental studies demonstrate how much "dynamic force," in terms of a membrane's maximum displacement, maximum force and driving frequency, can be produced by an actuator membrane interacting with fluid.

Rapid jetting status inspection and accurate droplet volume measurement for a piezo drop-on-demand inkjet print head using a scanning mirror for display applications

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Dong-Youn; Kim, Minsung

2017-02-01

Despite the inherent fabrication simplicity of piezo drop-on-demand inkjet printing, the non-uniform deposition of colourants or electroluminescent organic materials leads to faulty display products, and hence, the importance of rapid jetting status inspection and accurate droplet volume measurement increases from a process perspective. In this work, various jetting status inspections and droplet volume measurement methods are reviewed by discussing their advantages and disadvantages, and then, the opportunities for the developed prototype with a scanning mirror are explored. This work demonstrates that jetting status inspection of 384 fictitious droplets can be performed within 17 s with maximum and minimum measurement accuracies of 0.2 ± 0.5 μ m for the fictitious droplets of 50 μ m in diameter and -1.2 ± 0.3 μ m for the fictitious droplets of 30 μ m in diameter, respectively. In addition to the new design of an inkjet monitoring instrument with a scanning mirror, two novel methods to accurately measure the droplet volume by amplifying a minute droplet volume difference and then converting to other physical properties are suggested and the droplet volume difference of ±0.3% is demonstrated to be discernible using numerical simulations, even with the low measurement accuracy of 1 μ m . When the fact is considered that the conventional vision-based method with a CCD camera requires the optical measurement accuracy less than 25 nm to measure the volume of an in-flight droplet in the nominal diameter of 50 μ m at the same volume measurement accuracy, the suggested method with the developed prototype offers a whole new opportunity to inkjet printing for display applications.

Inkjet printing of single-crystal films.

Science.gov (United States)

Minemawari, Hiromi; Yamada, Toshikazu; Matsui, Hiroyuki; Tsutsumi, Jun'ya; Haas, Simon; Chiba, Ryosuke; Kumai, Reiji; Hasegawa, Tatsuo

2011-07-13

The use of single crystals has been fundamental to the development of semiconductor microelectronics and solid-state science. Whether based on inorganic or organic materials, the devices that show the highest performance rely on single-crystal interfaces, with their nearly perfect translational symmetry and exceptionally high chemical purity. Attention has recently been focused on developing simple ways of producing electronic devices by means of printing technologies. 'Printed electronics' is being explored for the manufacture of large-area and flexible electronic devices by the patterned application of functional inks containing soluble or dispersed semiconducting materials. However, because of the strong self-organizing tendency of the deposited materials, the production of semiconducting thin films of high crystallinity (indispensable for realizing high carrier mobility) may be incompatible with conventional printing processes. Here we develop a method that combines the technique of antisolvent crystallization with inkjet printing to produce organic semiconducting thin films of high crystallinity. Specifically, we show that mixing fine droplets of an antisolvent and a solution of an active semiconducting component within a confined area on an amorphous substrate can trigger the controlled formation of exceptionally uniform single-crystal or polycrystalline thin films that grow at the liquid-air interfaces. Using this approach, we have printed single crystals of the organic semiconductor 2,7-dioctyl[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (C(8)-BTBT) (ref. 15), yielding thin-film transistors with average carrier mobilities as high as 16.4 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1). This printing technique constitutes a major step towards the use of high-performance single-crystal semiconductor devices for large-area and flexible electronics applications.

Work Function and Conductivity of Inkjet-Printed Silver Layers: Effect of Inks and Post-treatments

Science.gov (United States)

Mitra, Dana; Mitra, Kalyan Yoti; Dzhagan, Volodymyr; Pillai, Nikhil; Zahn, Dietrich R. T.; Baumann, Reinhard R.

2018-03-01

The electronic properties of a printed layer are influenced by a number of factors, including the nature of the ink (nanoparticle- or solution-based), ink composition (solvents, additives, concentration), and post-treatment technologies, especially sintering. One of the major challenges in the field of printed electronics is achieving the desired performance, for example, in terms of conductivity, resistivity, or work function (WF). This work investigates the dependence of sheet resistance and WF on various sintering methodologies. Four different silver nanoparticle inks were inkjet-printed on a flexible polymeric foil and post-treated by thermal sintering (in an oven) or novel sintering processes using infrared or intense pulsed light. The surfaces of the printed and sintered layers were investigated optically, and various inhomogeneities in the layer surface were observed, varying from a smooth to a highly rough appearance with ring-shaped drying structures. An analysis of the sheet resistance revealed notable variation among the various inks and sintering methodologies used. Here, for the very first time, WF is measured and evaluated as a function of sintering methodology and silver ink, and the respective layer formation characteristics realized with the inkjet printing technology. The WF values obtained by ultraviolet photoemission show a similar spread and allow unambiguous trends to be tracked with respect to the type of ink and sintering method used. The values of the WF obtained range from 3.7 eV to 4.3 eV, approaching the reported bulk values of 4.3-4.7 eV. The various silver inks resulted in different WFs when the same sintering method was used, while the same silver ink resulted in different WFs when various sintering methods were applied. Therefore, it is believed that the WF can be tuned over a broad range in a controlled manner to satisfy electronic device requirements.

Screening for synergistic activity of antimicrobial combinations against carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae using inkjet printer-based technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Brennan-Krohn, Thea; Truelson, Katherine A; Smith, Kenneth P; Kirby, James E

2017-10-01

Synergistic combination antimicrobial therapy may provide new options for treatment of MDR infections. However, comprehensive in vitro synergy data are limited and facile methods to perform synergy testing in a clinically actionable time frame are unavailable. To systematically investigate a broad range of antibiotic combinations for evidence of synergistic activity against a collection of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) isolates. We made use of an automated method for chequerboard array synergy testing based on inkjet printer technology in the HP D300 digital dispenser to test 56 pairwise antimicrobial combinations of meropenem, aztreonam, cefepime, colistin, gentamicin, levofloxacin, chloramphenicol, fosfomycin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, minocycline and rifampicin, as well as the double carbapenem combination of meropenem and ertapenem. In a screening procedure, we tested these combinations against four CRE strains and identified nine antibiotic combinations that showed potential clinically relevant synergy. In confirmatory testing using 10 CRE strains, six combinations demonstrated clinically relevant synergy with both antimicrobials at the minimum fractional inhibitory concentration (FICI-MIN) in the susceptible or intermediate range in at least one trial. These included two novel combinations: minocycline plus colistin and minocycline plus meropenem. In 80% of strains at least one combination demonstrated clinically relevant synergy, but the combinations that demonstrated synergy varied from strain to strain. This work establishes the foundation for future systematic, broad-range investigations into antibiotic synergy for CRE, emphasizes the need for individualized synergy testing and demonstrates the utility of inkjet printer-based technology for the performance of automated antimicrobial synergy assays. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights

Ultrathin epidermal strain sensor based on an elastomer nanosheet with an inkjet-printed conductive polymer

Science.gov (United States)

Tetsu, Yuma; Yamagishi, Kento; Kato, Akira; Matsumoto, Yuya; Tsukune, Mariko; Kobayashi, Yo; Fujie, Masakatsu G.; Takeoka, Shinji; Fujie, Toshinori

2017-08-01

To minimize the interference that skin-contact strain sensors cause natural skin deformation, physical conformability to the epidermal structure is critical. Here, we developed an ultrathin strain sensor made from poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) inkjet-printed on a polystyrene-polybutadiene-polystyrene (SBS) nanosheet. The sensor, whose total thickness and gauge factor were ˜1 µm and 0.73 ± 0.10, respectively, deeply conformed to the epidermal structure and successfully detected the small skin strain (˜2%) while interfering minimally with the natural deformation of the skin. Such an epidermal strain sensor will open a new avenue for precisely detecting the motion of human skin and artificial soft-robotic skin.

Novel “Enhanced-Cognition” RFID Architectures on Organic/Paper Low-Cost Substrates Utilizing Inkjet Technologies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Yang

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of novel design and integration approaches for improved performance “enhanced-cognition” UHF passive and active radio frequency identification (RFID tags. Antenna design rules are explained for a variety of applications. A strategy that is currently under development for embedding power sources and integration of sensors and integrated circuits (ICs on low-cost organic substrates, such as liquid crystal polymer (LCP and paper, enabling the use of inkjet-printing capability for the UHF frequency band, is discussed in the paper. The proposed technologies could potentially revolutionize RFID tags allowing for integrated sensing capabilities for various applications such as security, military, logistics, automotion, and pharmaceutics.

The Influence of Parameters of Ink-Jet Printing on Photoluminescence Properties of Nanophotonic Labels Based on Ag Nanoparticles for Smart Packaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olha Hrytsenko

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Ag nanoparticles are perspective for the use in ink-jet printed smart packaging labels in order to protect a customer from counterfeit or inform them about the safety of consumption of a packaged product via changeable luminescence properties. It is determined that, to obtain printed images with the highest luminescence intensity, using the most technologically permissible concentration of fluorescent component in the ink composition and applying inks to papers with the lowest absorbance are recommended. The highest contrast of a tone fluorescent image can be obtained on papers with high degree of sizing. It is found that the use of papers with low optical brightness agent (OBA content with a wide range of luminescence intensity allows obtaining the same visual legibility of a printed nanophotonic label. The increase in the relative area of raster elements of an image leads to nonlinear increase in luminescence intensity of printed images in long-wave area of visible spectrum, affecting the luminescence color of a printed label. For wide industrial production of printed nanophotonic labels for smart packaging, the created principles of reproduction of nanophotonic images applied onto paper materials by ink-jet printing technique using printing inks containing Ag nanoparticles should be taken into account.

Synthesis of polyaniline-based inks for inkjet printed devices: electrical characterization highlighting the effect of primary and secondary doping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chiolerio, Alessandro; Bocchini, Sergio; Porro, Samuele; Perrone, Denis; Fabrizio Pirri, Candido; Scaravaggi, Francesco; Beretta, Davide; Caironi, Mario

2015-01-01

Engineering applications for printed electronics demand solution processable electrically conductive materials, in the form of inks, to realize interconnections, piezoresistive pressure sensors, thermoresistive temperature sensors, and many other devices. Polyaniline is an intrinsically conductive polymer with modest electrical properties but clear advantages in terms of solubility and stability with temperature and in time. A comprehensive study, starting from its synthesis, primary doping, inkjet printing and secondary doping is presented, with the aim of elucidating the doping agent effects on its morphology, printability and electronic performance. (paper)

Inkjet-Printed Chemical Solution Y2O3 Layers for Planarization of Technical Substrates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marta Vilardell

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The implementation of the Chemical Solution Deposition (CSD methodology with the Drop on Demand (DoD inkjet printing (IJP technology has been successfully employed to develop a Solution Deposition Planarization (SDP method. We have used nanocrystalline yttrium oxide (Y2O3 to decrease the roughness of technical metallic substrates by filling the surface imperfections and thus avoiding costly polishing steps. This alternative process represents an outstanding methodology to reduce the final cost of the second-generation coated conductors manufacturing. Two Y2O3 metalorganic precursor ink formulations were successfully developed and tested to obtain surfaces as smooth as possible with adequate mechanical properties to hold the internal stress developed during the growth of the subsequent layers. By using these inks as precursors for IJP and after a proper tuning of the rheological and wetting parameters, we firstly obtained centimeter length uniform 100 nm-thick SDP-Y2O3 films on unpolished stainless-steel substrate from Bruker HTS. The scalability of the roll to roll (R2R-IJP process to 100 m is then demonstrated on metallic substrates as well. A complete characterization of the prepared SDP-Y2O3 inkjet-printed layers was carried out using optical microscopy, FIB-SEM (Focus Ion Beam coupled to Scanning Electron Microscopy, XRD (X-ray Diffraction, AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy, reflectometry and nanoindentation techniques. Then, the morphology, thickness, crystallinity and mechanical properties were evaluated, together with the surface roughness in order to assess the resulting layer planarity. The impact of planarity was additionally studied via growth of biaxially textured buffer layers as well as further functional layers. 1.1 µm-thick YSZ layers with in-plane textures better than the stainless steel (SS polished reference were successfully deposited on top of 100 nm SDP-Y2O3 films yielding 50% of Ic in contrast to the standard SS reference.

Chemically programmed ink-jet printed resistive WORM memory array and readout circuit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andersson, H; Manuilskiy, A; Sidén, J; Gao, J; Kunninmel, G V; Nilsson, H-E; Hummelgård, M

2014-01-01

In this paper an ink-jet printed write once read many (WORM) resistive memory fabricated on paper substrate is presented. The memory elements are programmed for different resistance states by printing triethylene glycol monoethyl ether on the substrate before the actual memory element is printed using silver nano particle ink. The resistance is thus able to be set to a broad range of values without changing the geometry of the elements. A memory card consisting of 16 elements is manufactured for which the elements are each programmed to one of four defined logic levels, providing a total of 4294 967 296 unique possible combinations. Using a readout circuit, originally developed for resistive sensors to avoid crosstalk between elements, a memory card reader is manufactured that is able to read the values of the memory card and transfer the data to a PC. Such printed memory cards can be used in various applications. (paper)

Reduced contact resistance of a-IGZO thin film transistors with inkjet-printed silver electrodes

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jianqiu; Ning, Honglong; Fang, Zhiqiang; Tao, Ruiqiang; Yang, Caigui; Zhou, Yicong; Yao, Rihui; Xu, Miao; Wang, Lei; Peng, Junbiao

2018-04-01

In this study, high performance amorphous In–Ga–Zn–O (a-IGZO) TFTs were successfully fabricated with inkjet-printed silver source-drain electrodes. The results showed that increased channel thickness has an improving trend in the properties of TFTs due to the decreased contact resistance. Compared with sputtered silver TFTs, devices with printed silver electrodes were more sensitive to the thickness of active layer. Furthermore, the devices with optimized active layer showed high performances with a maximum saturation mobility of 8.73 cm2 · V‑1 · S‑1 and an average saturation mobility of 6.97 cm2 · V‑1 · S‑1, I on/I off ratio more than 107 and subthreshold swing of 0.28 V/decade, which were comparable with the analogous devices with sputtered electrodes.

3D micro-structures by piezoelectric inkjet printing of gold nanofluids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kullmann, Carmen; Lee, Ming-Tsang; Grigoropoulos, Costas P; Schirmer, Niklas C; Poulikakos, Dimos; Ko, Seung Hwan; Hotz, Nico

2012-01-01

3D solid and pocketed micro-wires and micro-walls are needed for emerging applications that require fine-scale functional structures in three dimensions, including micro-heaters, micro-reactors and solar cells. To fulfill this demand, 3D micro-structures with high aspect ratios (>50:1) are developed on a low-cost basis that is applicable for mass production with high throughput, also enabling the printing of structures that cannot be manufactured by conventional techniques. Additively patterned 3D gold micro-walls and -wires are grown by piezoelectric inkjet printing of nanofluids, selectively combined with in situ simultaneous laser annealing that can be applied to large-scale bulk production. It is demonstrated how the results of 3D printing depend on the piezoelectric voltage pulse, the substrate heating temperature and the structure height, resulting in the identification of thermal regions of optimal printing for best printing results. Furthermore a parametric analysis of the applied substrate temperature during printing leads to proposed temperature ranges for solid and pocketed micro-wire and micro-wall growth for selected frequency and voltages. (paper)

3D micro-structures by piezoelectric inkjet printing of gold nanofluids

KAUST Repository

Kullmann, Carmen

2012-04-18

3D solid and pocketed micro-wires and micro-walls are needed for emerging applications that require fine-scale functional structures in three dimensions, including micro-heaters, micro-reactors and solar cells. To fulfill this demand, 3D micro-structures with high aspect ratios (>50:1) are developed on a low-cost basis that is applicable for mass production with high throughput, also enabling the printing of structures that cannot be manufactured by conventional techniques. Additively patterned 3D gold micro-walls and -wires are grown by piezoelectric inkjet printing of nanofluids, selectively combined with in situ simultaneous laser annealing that can be applied to large-scale bulk production. It is demonstrated how the results of 3D printing depend on the piezoelectric voltage pulse, the substrate heating temperature and the structure height, resulting in the identification of thermal regions of optimal printing for best printing results. Furthermore a parametric analysis of the applied substrate temperature during printing leads to proposed temperature ranges for solid and pocketed micro-wire and micro-wall growth for selected frequency and voltages. © 2012 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Inkjet printing of nanoporous gold electrode arrays on cellulose membranes for high-sensitive paper-like electrochemical oxygen sensors using ionic liquid electrolytes.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Chengguo; Bai, Xiaoyun; Wang, Yingkai; Jin, Wei; Zhang, Xuan; Hu, Shengshui

2012-04-17

A simple approach to the mass production of nanoporous gold electrode arrays on cellulose membranes for electrochemical sensing of oxygen using ionic liquid (IL) electrolytes was established. The approach, combining the inkjet printing of gold nanoparticle (GNP) patterns with the self-catalytic growth of these patterns into conducting layers, can fabricate hundreds of self-designed gold arrays on cellulose membranes within several hours using an inexpensive inkjet printer. The resulting paper-based gold electrode arrays (PGEAs) had several unique properties as thin-film sensor platforms, including good conductivity, excellent flexibility, high integration, and low cost. The porous nature of PGEAs also allowed the addition of electrolytes from the back cellulose membrane side and controllably produced large three-phase electrolyte/electrode/gas interfaces at the front electrode side. A novel paper-based solid-state electrochemical oxygen (O(2)) sensor was therefore developed using an IL electrolyte, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (BMIMPF(6)). The sensor looked like a piece of paper but possessed high sensitivity for O(2) in a linear range from 0.054 to 0.177 v/v %, along with a low detection limit of 0.0075% and a short response time of less than 10 s, foreseeing its promising applications in developing cost-effective and environment-friendly paper-based electrochemical gas sensors.

Inkjet-Printed Electrodes on A4 Paper Substrates for Low-Cost, Disposable, and Flexible Asymmetric Supercapacitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Sundriyal, Poonam; Bhattacharya, Shantanu

2017-11-08

Printed electronics is widely gaining much attention for compact and high-performance energy-storage devices because of the advancement of flexible electronics. The development of a low-cost current collector, selection, and utilization of the proper material deposition tool and improvement of the device energy density are major challenges for the existing flexible supercapacitors. In this paper, we have reported an inkjet-printed solid-state asymmetric supercapacitor on commercial A4 paper using a low-cost desktop printer (EPSON L130). The physical properties of all inks have been carefully optimized so that the developed inks are within the printable range, i.e., Fromm number of 4 electrode, and another such structure is printed with activated carbon ink to form a negative electrode. A combination of both of these electrodes is outlaid by fabricating an asymmetric supercapacitor. The assembled asymmetric supercapacitor with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-LiCl gel electrolyte shows a stable potential window of 0-2.0 V and exhibits outstanding flexibility, good cyclic stability, high rate capability, and high energy density. The fabricated paper-substrate-based flexible asymmetric supercapacitor also displays an excellent electrochemical performances, e.g., a maximum areal capacitance of 1.586 F/cm 2 (1023 F/g) at a current density of 4 mA/cm 2 , highest energy density of 22 mWh/cm 3 at a power density of 0.099 W/cm 3 , a capacity retention of 89.6% even after 9000 charge-discharge cycles, and a low charge-transfer resistance of 2.3 Ω. So, utilization of inkjet printing for the development of paper-based flexible electronics has a strong potential for embedding into the next generation low-cost, compact, and wearable energy-storage devices and other printed electronic applications.

Inkjet-based adaptive planarization (Conference Presentation)

Science.gov (United States)

Singhal, Shrawan; Grigas, Michelle M.; Khusnatdinov, Niyaz; Sreenivasan, Srinivasan V.

2017-03-01

that should have been polished away. Preventive techniques like dummy fill and patterned resist can be used to reduce the variation in pattern density. These techniques increase the complexity of the planarization process and significantly limit the device design flexibility. Contact Planarization (CP) has also been reported as an alternative to the CMP processing [7], [8]. A substrate is spin coated with a photo curable material and pre baked to remove residual solvent. An ultra-flat surface or an optical flat is pressed on the spin-coated wafer. The material is forced to reflow. Pressure is used to spread out material evenly and achieve global planarization. The substrate is then exposed to UV radiation to harden the photo curable material. Although attractive, this process is not adaptive as it does not account for differences in surface topography of the wafer and the optical flat, nor can it address all the parasitics that arise during the process itself. The optical flat leads to undesirable planarization of even the substrate nominal shape and nanotopography, which corrupts the final film thickness profile. Hence, it becomes extremely difficult to eliminate this signature to a desirable extent without introducing other parasitic signatures. An example of this is shown in Figure 1. In this paper, a novel adaptive planarization process has been presented that potentially addresses the problems associated with planarization of varying pattern density, even in the presence of pre-existing substrate topography [9]. This process is called Inkjet-enabled Adaptive Planarization (IAP). The IAP process uses an inverse optimization scheme, built around a validated fluid mechanics-based forward model [10], that takes the pre-existing substrate topography and pattern layout as inputs. It then generates an inkjet drop pattern with a material distribution that is correlated with the desired planarization film profile. This allows a contiguous film to be formed with the desired

Paper-based inkjet-printed tri-band U-slot monopole antenna for wireless applications

KAUST Repository

Abutarboush, Hattan

2012-01-01

Realization of a U-slot tri-band monopole antenna on a low-cost paper substrate using inkjet-printed technology is presented for the first time. The U-shaped slot is optimized to enhance the bandwidth and to achieve tri-band operation of 1.57, 3.2, and 5 GHz with measured impedance bandwidths of 3.21%, 28.1%, and 36%, respectively. The antenna is fabricated through a metallic nanoparticle ink on a standard commercial paper. Thus, the antenna can be used to cover the GPS, WiMAX, HiperLAN/2, and WLAN. The antenna has a compact size of 12 × 37.3 × 0.44 mm3 , leaving enough space for the driving electronics on the paper substrate. The impedance bandwidth, current distributions, radiation patterns, gain, and efficiency of the antenna have been studied through computer simulations and measurements. © 2002-2011 IEEE.

Modeling thermal inkjet and cell printing process using modified pseudopotential and thermal lattice Boltzmann methods

Science.gov (United States)

Sohrabi, Salman; Liu, Yaling

2018-03-01

Pseudopotential lattice Boltzmann methods (LBMs) can simulate a phase transition in high-density ratio multiphase flow systems. If coupled with thermal LBMs through equation of state, they can be used to study instantaneous phase transition phenomena with a high-temperature gradient where only one set of formulations in an LBM system can handle liquid, vapor, phase transition, and heat transport. However, at lower temperatures an unrealistic spurious current at the interface introduces instability and limits its application in real flow system. In this study, we proposed new modifications to the LBM system to minimize a spurious current which enables us to study nucleation dynamic at room temperature. To demonstrate the capabilities of this approach, the thermal ejection process is modeled as one example of a complex flow system. In an inkjet printer, a thermal pulse instantly heats up the liquid in a microfluidic chamber and nucleates bubble vapor providing the pressure pulse necessary to eject droplets at high speed. Our modified method can present a more realistic model of the explosive vaporization process since it can also capture a high-temperature/density gradient at nucleation region. Thermal inkjet technology has been successfully applied for printing cells, but cells are susceptible to mechanical damage or death as they squeeze out of the nozzle head. To study cell deformation, a spring network model, representing cells, is connected to the LBM through the immersed boundary method. Looking into strain and stress distribution of a cell membrane at its most deformed state, it is found that a high stretching rate effectively increases the rupture tension. In other words, membrane deformation energy is released through creation of multiple smaller nanopores rather than big pores. Overall, concurrently simulating multiphase flow, phase transition, heat transfer, and cell deformation in one unified LB platform, we are able to provide a better insight into the

Modeling thermal inkjet and cell printing process using modified pseudopotential and thermal lattice Boltzmann methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Sohrabi, Salman; Liu, Yaling

2018-03-01

Pseudopotential lattice Boltzmann methods (LBMs) can simulate a phase transition in high-density ratio multiphase flow systems. If coupled with thermal LBMs through equation of state, they can be used to study instantaneous phase transition phenomena with a high-temperature gradient where only one set of formulations in an LBM system can handle liquid, vapor, phase transition, and heat transport. However, at lower temperatures an unrealistic spurious current at the interface introduces instability and limits its application in real flow system. In this study, we proposed new modifications to the LBM system to minimize a spurious current which enables us to study nucleation dynamic at room temperature. To demonstrate the capabilities of this approach, the thermal ejection process is modeled as one example of a complex flow system. In an inkjet printer, a thermal pulse instantly heats up the liquid in a microfluidic chamber and nucleates bubble vapor providing the pressure pulse necessary to eject droplets at high speed. Our modified method can present a more realistic model of the explosive vaporization process since it can also capture a high-temperature/density gradient at nucleation region. Thermal inkjet technology has been successfully applied for printing cells, but cells are susceptible to mechanical damage or death as they squeeze out of the nozzle head. To study cell deformation, a spring network model, representing cells, is connected to the LBM through the immersed boundary method. Looking into strain and stress distribution of a cell membrane at its most deformed state, it is found that a high stretching rate effectively increases the rupture tension. In other words, membrane deformation energy is released through creation of multiple smaller nanopores rather than big pores. Overall, concurrently simulating multiphase flow, phase transition, heat transfer, and cell deformation in one unified LB platform, we are able to provide a better insight into the

One-Step Interface Engineering for All-Inkjet-Printed, All-Organic Components in Transparent, Flexible Transistors and Inverters: Polymer Binding.

Science.gov (United States)

Ha, Jewook; Chung, Seungjun; Pei, Mingyuan; Cho, Kilwon; Yang, Hoichang; Hong, Yongtaek

2017-03-15

We report a one-step interface engineering methodology which can be used on both polymer electrodes and gate dielectric for all-inkjet-printed, flexible, transparent organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) and inverters. Dimethylchlorosilane-terminated polystyrene (PS) was introduced as a surface modifier to cured poly(4-vinylphenol) dielectric and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) electrodes without any pretreatment. On the untreated and PS interlayer-treated dielectric and electrode surfaces, 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl)pentacene was printed to fabricate OTFTs and inverters. With the benefit of the PS interlayer, the electrical properties of the OTFTs on a flexible plastic substrate were significantly improved, as shown by a field-effect mobility (μ FET ) of 0.27 cm 2  V -1  s -1 and an on/off current ratio (I on /I off ) of greater than 10 6 . In contrast, the untreated systems showed a low μ FET of less than 0.02 cm 2  V -1  s -1 and I on /I off ∼ 10 4 . Additionally, the all-inkjet-printed inverters based on the PS-modified surfaces exhibited a voltage gain of 7.17 V V -1 . The all-organic-based TFTs and inverters, including deformable and transparent PEDOT:PSS electrodes with a sheet resistance of 160-250 Ω sq -1 , exhibited a light transmittance of higher than 70% (at wavelength of 550 nm). Specifically, there was no significant degradation in the electrical performance of the interface engineering-assisted system after 1000 bending cycles at a radius of 5 mm.

Fabrication of Trabecular Bone-Templated Tissue-Engineered Constructs by 3D Inkjet Printing.

Science.gov (United States)

Vanderburgh, Joseph P; Fernando, Shanik J; Merkel, Alyssa R; Sterling, Julie A; Guelcher, Scott A

2017-11-01

3D printing enables the creation of scaffolds with precisely controlled morphometric properties for multiple tissue types, including musculoskeletal tissues such as cartilage and bone. Computed tomography (CT) imaging has been combined with 3D printing to fabricate anatomically scaled patient-specific scaffolds for bone regeneration. However, anatomically scaled scaffolds typically lack sufficient resolution to recapitulate the 3D constructs are fabricated via a new micro-CT/3D inkjet printing process. It is shown that this process reproducibly fabricates bone-templated constructs that recapitulate the anatomic site-specific morphometric properties of trabecular bone. A significant correlation is observed between the structure model index (a morphometric parameter related to surface curvature) and the degree of mineralization of human mesenchymal stem cells, with more concave surfaces promoting more extensive osteoblast differentiation and mineralization compared to predominately convex surfaces. These findings highlight the significant effects of trabecular architecture on osteoblast function. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Excimer laser processing of inkjet-printed and sputter-deposited transparent conducting SnO2:Sb for flexible electronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cranton, Wayne M.; Wilson, Sharron L.; Ranson, Robert; Koutsogeorgis, Demosthenes C.; Chi Kuangnan; Hedgley, Richard; Scott, John; Lipiec, Stephen; Spiller, Andrew; Speakman, Stuart

2007-01-01

The feasibility of low-temperature fabrication of transparent electrode elements from thin films of antimony-doped tin oxide (SnO 2 :Sb, ATO) has been investigated via inkjet printing, rf magnetron sputtering and post-deposition excimer laser processing. Laser processing of thin films on both glass and plastic substrates was performed using a Lambda Physik 305i excimer laser, with fluences in the range 20-100 mJ cm -2 reducing sheet resistance from as-deposited values by up to 3 orders of magnitude. This is consistent with TEM analysis of the films that shows a densification of the upper 200 nm of laser-processed regions

Fabrication of polymer micro-lens array with pneumatically diaphragm-driven drop-on-demand inkjet technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Dan; Zhang, Honghai; Shu, Xiayun; Xiao, Junfeng

2012-07-02

The paper reports an effective method to fabricate micro-lens arrays with the ultraviolet-curable polymer, using an original pneumatically diaphragm-driven drop-on-demand inkjet system. An array of plano convex micro-lenses can be formed on the glass substrate due to surface tension and hydrophobic effect. The micro-lens arrays have uniform focusing function, smooth and real planar surface. The fabrication process showed good repeatability as well, fifty micro-lenses randomly selected form 9 × 9 miro-lens array with an average diameter of 333.28μm showed 1.1% variations. Also, the focal length, the surface roughness and optical property of the fabricated micro-lenses are measured, analyzed and proved satisfactory. The technique shows great potential for fabricating polymer micro-lens arrays with high flexibility, simple technological process and low production cost.

Inkjet-assisted layer-by-layer printing of quantum dot/enzyme microarrays for highly sensitive detection of organophosphorous pesticides

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luan, Enxiao; Zheng, Zhaozhu; Li, Xinyu; Gu, Hongxi [State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150080 (China); Micro- and Nanotechnology Research Center, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150080 (China); Liu, Shaoqin, E-mail: shaoqinliu@hit.edu.cn [Micro- and Nanotechnology Research Center, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150080 (China)

2016-04-15

We present a facile fabrication of layer-by-layer (LbL) microarrays of quantum dots (QDs) and acetylcholinesterase enzyme (AChE). The resulting arrays had several unique properties, such as low cost, high integration and excellent flexibility and time–saving. The presence of organophosphorous pesticides (OPs) can inhibit the AChE activity and thus changes the fluorescent intensity of QDs/AChE microscopic dot arrays. Therefore, the QDs/AChE microscopic dot arrays were used for the sensitive visual detection of OPs. Linear calibration for parathion and paraoxon was obtained in the range of 5–100 μg L{sup −1} under the optimized conditions with the limit of detection (LOD) of 10 μg L{sup −1}. The arrays have been successfully used for detection of OPs in fruits and water real samples. The new array was validated by comparison with conventional high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). - Graphical abstract: A fluorimetric assay for high-throughput screening of organophosphorous pesticides was developed based on the CdTe QDs/AChE microarrays via inkjet-assisted LbL printing techniques. - Highlights: • The large scale microarrays of CdTe QDs and AChE were fabricated by facile inkjet-assisted LbL printing technique. • The QDs/AChE microscopic dot arrays could be used quantitatively and rapidly for the sensitively visual detection of OPs. • A detection limit of 10 μg L{sup −1} was achieved, much lower than levels specified by standard tests and other colorimetric detection methods. • The low cost, short processing time, sufficient sensitivity, good stability and ease of use make it for a facile platform for on-site screening.

Generation and Diffusion of Innovations in a District Innovation System: The Case of Ink-Jet Printing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yolanda Reig-Otero

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This paper provides an in-depth case study of the ink-jet printing (IJP technology that emerged from the ceramic industry in a Spanish region (Castellon in the first decade of 2000. We propose an analytical framework that combines the theoretical perspectives of Industrial Districts and Innovation Systems, and exploit a qualitative methodology that includes information from patent and scientific article databases and 21 in-depth interviews. Our results show that IJP is a major innovation that breaks with the tradition of machinery innovations in this industry in Spain. Micro-level evidences show the complex external and internal relationships in the sharing of knowledge and innovation process, being the role of internal ties, trust, secrecy and strong in-house R&D strategies determinants of the IJP innovation.

Drop-on-Demand Inkjet Printhead Performance Enhancement by Dynamic Lumped Element Modeling for Printable Electronics Fabrication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maowei He

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The major challenge in printable electronics fabrication is the print resolution and accuracy. In this paper, the dynamic lumped element model (DLEM is proposed to directly simulate an inkjet-printed nanosilver droplet formation process and used for predictively controlling jetting characteristics. The static lumped element model (LEM previously developed by the authors is extended to dynamic model with time-varying equivalent circuits to characterize nonlinear behaviors of piezoelectric printhead. The model is then used to investigate how performance of the piezoelectric ceramic actuator influences jetting characteristics of nanosilver ink. Finally, the proposed DLEM is applied to predict the printing quality using nanosilver ink. Experimental results show that, compared to other analytic models, the proposed DLEM has a simpler structure with the sufficient simulation and prediction accuracy.

Development of a Hydrogen Peroxide Sensor Based on Screen-Printed Electrodes Modified with Inkjet-Printed Prussian Blue Nanoparticles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefano Cinti

2014-08-01

Full Text Available A sensor for the simple and sensitive measurement of hydrogen peroxide has been developed which is based on screen printed electrodes (SPEs modified with Prussian blue nanoparticles (PBNPs deposited using piezoelectric inkjet printing. PBNP-modified SPEs were characterized using physical and electrochemical techniques to optimize the PBNP layer thickness and electroanalytical conditions for optimum measurement of hydrogen peroxide. Sensor optimization resulted in a limit of detection of 2 × 10−7 M, a linear range from 0 to 4.5 mM and a sensitivity of 762 μA∙mM–1∙cm–2 which was achieved using 20 layers of printed PBNPs. Sensors also demonstrated excellent reproducibility (<5% rsd.

A Compact Inductive Position Sensor Made by Inkjet Printing Technology on a Flexible Substrate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nataša Samardžić

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the design, simulation and fabrication of an inductive angular position sensor on a flexible substrate. The sensor is composed of meandering silver coils printed on a flexible substrate (Kapton film using inkjet technology. The flexibility enables that after printing in the plane, the coils could be rolled and put inside each other. By changing the angular position of the internal coil (rotor related to the external one (stator, the mutual inductance is changed and consequently the impedance. It is possible to determine the angular position from the measured real and imaginary part of the impedance, in our case in the frequency range from 1 MHz to 10 MHz. Experimental results were compared with simulation results obtained by in-house developed software tool, and very good agreement has been achieved. Thanks to the simple design and fabrication, smaller package space requirements and weight, the presented sensor represents a cost-effective alternative to the other sensors currently used in series production applications.

Crude oil water-cut sensing with disposable laser ablated and inkjet printed RF microfluidics

KAUST Repository

McKerricher, Garret

2014-06-01

This paper presents the first microwave microfluidic crude oil/water cut sensor. Anhydrous crude oil is been tested and the device provides a measurable frequency shift of 500MHz at 50% (vol.) water content and a 50MHz shift for a 5% (vol.) water concentration. The sensor is realized with a low-cost direct write fabrication method. This involves laser ablation, inkjet printing, laser heating, along with low temperature thermal compression bonding of Poly (methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) sheets. By using localized laser sintering a conductivity of 2.5e6 S/m is achieved for silver nanoparticle ink without the need to heat the entire substrate above its glass transition temperature of (105 °C). The dielectric properties of PMMA are characterized to 1 GHz and a simulation model is offered for analyzing the dielectric properties of crude oil. This work demonstrates that a small form factor and low cost device is capable of precise water-cut measurements. © 2014 IEEE.

Physical Properties Investigation of Reduced Graphene Oxide Thin Films Prepared by Material Inkjet Printing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Veronika Schmiedova

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article is focused on the study of the optical properties of inkjet-printed graphene oxide (GO layers by spectroscopic ellipsometry. Due to its unique optical and electrical properties, GO can be used as, for example, a transparent and flexible electrode material in organic and printed electronics. Spectroscopic ellipsometry was used to characterize the optical response of the GO layer and its reduced form (rGO, obtainable, for example, by reduction of prepared layers by either annealing, UV radiation, or chemical reduction in the visible range. The thicknesses of the layers were determined by a mechanical profilometer and used as an input parameter for optical modeling. Ellipsometric spectra were analyzed according to the dispersion model and the influence of the reduction of GO on optical constants is discussed. Thus, detailed analysis of the ellipsometric data provides a unique tool for qualitative and also quantitative description of the optical properties of GO thin films for electronic applications.

Crude oil water-cut sensing with disposable laser ablated and inkjet printed RF microfluidics

KAUST Repository

McKerricher, Garret; Conchouso Gonzalez, David; Cook, Benajmin S.; Foulds, Ian G.; Shamim, Atif

2014-01-01

This paper presents the first microwave microfluidic crude oil/water cut sensor. Anhydrous crude oil is been tested and the device provides a measurable frequency shift of 500MHz at 50% (vol.) water content and a 50MHz shift for a 5% (vol.) water concentration. The sensor is realized with a low-cost direct write fabrication method. This involves laser ablation, inkjet printing, laser heating, along with low temperature thermal compression bonding of Poly (methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) sheets. By using localized laser sintering a conductivity of 2.5e6 S/m is achieved for silver nanoparticle ink without the need to heat the entire substrate above its glass transition temperature of (105 °C). The dielectric properties of PMMA are characterized to 1 GHz and a simulation model is offered for analyzing the dielectric properties of crude oil. This work demonstrates that a small form factor and low cost device is capable of precise water-cut measurements. © 2014 IEEE.

Mejoras prácticas para líneas de decoración Inkjet en cerámica. Máquina IR de radiaciones electromagnéticas (tecnología de longitud de onda

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gálvez, D.

2012-04-01

Full Text Available SACMI IBÉRICA, S.A., has been awarded by the Spanish Society of Ceramics and Glass (SECV, with one GOLD ALFA, in its 2012 edition, during CEVISAMA for the presentation of the innovative IR Electromagnetic Radiation Machine, which improves the conditions and the production performance of digital decoration lines INKJET and other decorative applications ceramic tile.

SACMI IBÉRICA, S.A., ha sido galardonada por la Sociedad Española de Cerámica y Vidrio (S.E.C.V., con un ALFA DE ORO, en su edición 2012, durante la celebración de CEVISAMA, por la presentación de la innovadora Máquina IR de Radiaciones Electromagnéticas, que mejora las condiciones y rendimiento productivo de las líneas de decoración digital INKJET y también en otras aplicaciones decorativas en azulejos y baldosas cerámicas.

Deposition of bi-dispersed particles in inkjet-printed evaporating colloidal drops

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Ying; Joshi, Abhijit; Chhasatia, Viral

2010-11-01

In this study, the deposition behaviors of inkjet-printed evaporating colloidal drops consisting of bi-dispersed micro and nano-sized particles are investigated by fluorescence microscopy and SEM. The results on hydrophilic glass substrates show that, evaporatively-driven outward flow drives the nanoparticles to deposit close to the pinned contact line while an inner ring deposition is formed by microparticles. This size-induced particle separation is consistent with the existence of a wedge-shaped drop edge near the contact line region of an evaporating drop on a hydrophilic substrate. The replenishing evaporatively-driven flow assembles nanoparticles closer to the pinned contact line forming an outer ring of nanoparticles and this particle jamming further enhances the contact line pinning. Microparticles are observed to form an inner ring inside the nano-sized deposits. This size-induced particle separation presents a new challenge to the uniformity of functional materials in bioprinting applications where nanoparticles and micro-sized cells are mixed together. On the other hand, particle self-assembly based on their sizes provides enables easy and well-controlled pattern formation. The effects of particle size contrast, particle volume fraction, substrate surface energy, and relative humidity of the printing environment on particle separation are examined in detail.

Effect of BaTiO3 Nanopowder Concentration on Rheological Behaviour of Ceramic Inkjet Inks

Science.gov (United States)

Kyrpal, R.; Dulina, I.; Ragulya, A.

2015-04-01

The relationship between rheological properties of ceramic inkjet inks based on BaTiO3 nanopowder and solid phase concentration has been investigated. In the ink volume takes place the formation periodic colloidal structures (PCS). The determining factor of structure formation is powder-dispersant ratio. Structural constitution of in the system with the low pigment concentration represented as PCS2, that contains solid particles in deflocculated that stabilized by the presence of adsorption-solvate layers. Dilatant structure formation for such inks explained by constrained conditions of the interaction. Samples with high BaTiO3 concentration have been classified as PKS1. Dilatant properties of the PKS1 resulted in particles rearrangement under the influence of the flow. In the region of some values powder-dispersant ratio take place conversation PKS2 to PKS1 and ink structure transformation from monodisperse to aggregate state.

Characteristics of an electro-rheological fluid valve used in an inkjet printhead

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, C. Y.; Liao, W. C.

2000-12-01

The demand for non-impact printers has grown considerably with the advent of personal computers. For entry-level mass production, two drop-on-demand techniques have dominated the market - piezoelectric impulse and thermal-bubble types. However, the high cost of the piezoelectric printhead and the thermal problems encountered by the thermal-bubble jet printhead have restrained the use of these techniques in an array-type printhead. In this study, we propose a new design of printhead with an electro-rheological (ER) fluid acting as a control medium. The ER fluid valve controls the ink ejection. As a first step toward developing this new printhead, the characteristics of an ER fluid valve which controls the deflection of the elastic diaphragm are investigated. First, the response of a prototype is tested experimentally to prove the feasibility of using this ER valve for the inkjet printhead. Then, the discretized governing equation of the ER valve is derived. Finally, the prototype of the ER valve is fabricated. The experimental measurement based on the sinusoidal response verifies both the theoretical analysis and the controllability of the response of the ER valve by the applied electric field.

Bio-sample detection on paper-based devices with inkjet printer-sprayed reagents.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Wun-Hong; Chu, Chien-Hung; Yang, Ruey-Jen

2015-12-01

The reagent required for bio-sample detection on paper-based analytical devices is generally introduced manually using a pipette. Such an approach is time-consuming; particularly if a large number of devices are required. Automated methods provide a far more convenient solution for large-scale production, but incur a substantial cost. Accordingly, the present study proposes a low-cost method for the paper-based analytical devices in which the biochemical reagents are sprayed onto the device directly using a modified commercial inkjet printer. The feasibility of the proposed method is demonstrated by performing aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) tests using simple two-dimensional (2D) paper-based devices. In both cases, the reaction process is analyzed using an image-processing-based colorimetric method. The experimental results show that for AST detection within the 0-105 U/l concentration range, the optimal observation time is around four minutes, while for ALT detection in the 0-125 U/l concentration range, the optimal observation time is approximately one minute. Finally, for both samples, the detection performance of the sprayed-reagent analytical devices is insensitive to the glucose concentration. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Compact Kapton-based Inkjet Printed Multiband Antenna for Flexible Wireless Devices

KAUST Repository

Ahmed, Sana

2015-04-20

A low cost inkjet printed multiband antenna envisioned for integration into flexible and conformal mobile devices is presented. The antenna structure contains a novel triangular iterative design with coplanar waveguide (CPW) feed, printed on a Kapton polyimide-based flexible substrate with dimensions of 70 x 70 x 0.11 mm3. The antenna covers four wide frequency bands with measured impedance bandwidths of 54.4%, 14%, 23.5% and 17.2%, centered at 1.2, 2.0, 2.6 and 3.4 GHz, respectively, thus, enabling it to cover GSM 900, GPS, UMTS, WLAN, ISM, Bluetooth, LTE 2300/ 2500 and WiMAX standards. The antenna has omnidirectional radiation pattern with a maximum gain of 2.1 dBi. To characterize the flexibility of the antenna, the fabricated prototype is tested in convex and concave bent configurations for radii of 78mm and 59mm. The overall performance remains unaffected, except a minor shift of 20 MHz and 60 MHz in S11, for concave bending at both radii. The compact, lightweight and conformal design as well as multiband performance in bent configurations, proves the suitability of the antenna for future electronic devices.

Inkjet-printed gold nanoparticle surfaces for the detection of low molecular weight biomolecules by laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Marsico, Alyssa L M; Creran, Brian; Duncan, Bradley; Elci, S Gokhan; Jiang, Ying; Onasch, Timothy B; Wormhoudt, Joda; Rotello, Vincent M; Vachet, Richard W

2015-11-01

Effective detection of low molecular weight compounds in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS) is often hindered by matrix interferences in the low m/z region of the mass spectrum. Here, we show that monolayer-protected gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) can serve as alternate matrices for the very sensitive detection of low molecular weight compounds such as amino acids. Amino acids can be detected at low fmol levels with minimal interferences by properly choosing the AuNP deposition method, density, size, and monolayer surface chemistry. By inkjet-printing AuNPs at various densities, we find that AuNP clusters are essential for obtaining the greatest sensitivity. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.

Silver front electrode grids for ITO-free all printed polymer solar cells with embedded and raised topographies, prepared by thermal imprint, flexographic and inkjet roll-to-roll processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Jong-Su; Kim, Inyoung; Kim, Jung-Su; Jo, Jeongdai; Larsen-Olsen, Thue T; Søndergaard, Roar R; Hösel, Markus; Angmo, Dechan; Jørgensen, Mikkel; Krebs, Frederik C

2012-09-28

Semitransparent front electrodes for polymer solar cells, that are printable and roll-to-roll processable under ambient conditions using different approaches, are explored in this report. The excellent smoothness of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) electrodes has traditionally been believed to be difficult to achieve using printed front grids, as surface topographies accumulate when processing subsequent layers, leading to shunts between the top and bottom printed metallic electrodes. Here we demonstrate how aqueous nanoparticle based silver inks can be employed as printed front electrodes using several different roll-to-roll techniques. We thus compare hexagonal silver grids prepared using either roll-to-roll inkjet or roll-to-roll flexographic printing. Both inkjet and flexo grids present a raised topography and were found to perform differently due to only the conductivity of the obtained silver grid. The raised topographies were compared with a roll-to-roll thermally imprinted grid that was filled with silver in a roll-to-roll process, thus presenting an embedded topography. The embedded grid and the flexo grid were found to perform equally well, with the flexographic technique currently presenting the fastest processing and the lowest silver use, whereas the embedded grid presents the maximally achievable optical transparency and conductivity. Polymer solar cells were prepared in the same step, using roll-to-roll slot-die coating of zinc oxide as the electron transport layer, poly-3-hexylthiophene:phenyl-C(61)-butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM) as the active layer and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) as the top electrode, along with a flat bed screen printed silver grid. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) obtained for large area devices (6 cm(2)) was 1.84%, 0.79% and 1.72%, respectively, for thermally imprinted, inkjet and flexographic silver grids, tested outside under the real sun. Central to all three approaches was that they

Ink-jet printing technology enables self-aligned mould patterning for electroplating in a single step

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meissner, M V; Spengler, N; Mager, D; Wang, N; Kiss, S Z; Höfflin, J; While, P T; Korvink, J G

2015-01-01

We present a new self-aligned, mask-free micro-fabrication method with which to form thick-layered conductive metal micro-structures inside electroplating moulds. Seed layer patterning for electroplating was performed by ink-jet printing using a silver nano-particle ink deposited on SU-8 or Ordyl SY permanent resist. The silver ink contact angle on SU-8 was adjusted by oxygen plasma followed by a hard bake. Besides functioning as a seed layer, the printed structures further served as a shadow mask during patterning of electroplating moulds into negative photoresist. The printed silver tracks remained in strong adhesion to the substrate when exposed to the acidic chemistry of the electroplating bath. To demonstrate the process, we manufactured rectangular, low-resistivity planar micro-coils for use in magnetic resonance microscopy. MRI images of a spring onion with an in-plane resolution down to 10 µm × 10 µm were acquired using a micro-coil on an 11.7 T MRI scanner. (paper)

Highly Conductive Aromatic Functionalized Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube for Inkjet Printable High Performance Supercapacitor Electrodes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanjeev K Ujjain

Full Text Available We report the functionalization of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT via the 1,3-dipolar [3+2] cycloaddition of aromatic azides, which resulted in a detangled CNT as shown by transmission electron microscopy (TEM. Carboxylic moieties (-COOH on aromatic azide result in highly stable aqueous dispersion (max. conc. ~ 10 mg/mL H2O, making the suitable for inkjet printing. Printed patterns on polyethylene terephthalate (PET flexible substrate exhibit low sheet resistivity ~65 Ω. cm, which is attributed to enhanced conductivity. Fabricated Supercapacitors (SC assembled using these printed substrates exhibit good electrochemical performance in organic as well as aqueous electrolytes. High energy and power density (57.8 Wh/kg and 0.85 kW/kg in 1M H2SO4 aqueous electrolyte demonstrate the excellent performance of the proposed supercapacitor. Capacitive retention varies from ~85-94% with columbic efficiency ~95% after 1000 charge/discharge cycles in different electrolytes, demonstrating the excellent potential of the device for futuristic power applications.

Particle image velocimetry measurements in an anatomical vascular model fabricated using inkjet 3D printing

Science.gov (United States)

Aycock, Kenneth I.; Hariharan, Prasanna; Craven, Brent A.

2017-11-01

For decades, the study of biomedical fluid dynamics using optical flow visualization and measurement techniques has been limited by the inability to fabricate transparent physical models that realistically replicate the complex morphology of biological lumens. In this study, we present an approach for producing optically transparent anatomical models that are suitable for particle image velocimetry (PIV) using a common 3D inkjet printing process (PolyJet) and stock resin (VeroClear). By matching the index of refraction of the VeroClear material using a room-temperature mixture of water, sodium iodide, and glycerol, and by printing the part in an orientation such that the flat, optical surfaces are at an approximately 45° angle to the build plane, we overcome the challenges associated with using this 3D printing technique for PIV. Here, we summarize our methodology and demonstrate the process and the resultant PIV measurements of flow in an optically transparent anatomical model of the human inferior vena cava.

Utilization of calcium carbonate particles from eggshell waste as coating pigments for ink-jet printing paper.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoo, Sukjoon; Hsieh, Jeffery S; Zou, Peter; Kokoszka, John

2009-12-01

The effective treatment and utilization of biowaste have been emphasized in our society for environmental and economic concerns. Recently, the eggshell waste in the poultry industry has been highlighted because of its reclamation potential. This study presents an economical treatment process to recover useful bioproducts from eggshell waste and their utilization in commercial products. We developed the dissolved air floatation (DAF) separation unit, which successfully recovered 96% of eggshell membrane and 99% of eggshell calcium carbonate (ECC) particles from eggshell waste within 2 h of operation. The recovered ECC particles were utilized as coating pigments for ink-jet printing paper and their impact on the ink density and paper gloss were investigated. The addition of the ECC particles as coating pigments enhances the optical density of cyan, magenta and yellow inks while decreasing the black ink density and the gloss of the coated paper.

Transparent Large-Area MoS2 Phototransistors with Inkjet-Printed Components on Flexible Platforms.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Tae-Young; Ha, Jewook; Cho, Kyungjune; Pak, Jinsu; Seo, Jiseok; Park, Jongjang; Kim, Jae-Keun; Chung, Seungjun; Hong, Yongtaek; Lee, Takhee

2017-10-24

Two-dimensional (2D) transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have gained considerable attention as an emerging semiconductor due to their promising atomically thin film characteristics with good field-effect mobility and a tunable band gap energy. However, their electronic applications have been generally realized with conventional inorganic electrodes and dielectrics implemented using conventional photolithography or transferring processes that are not compatible with large-area and flexible device applications. To facilitate the advantages of 2D TMDCs in practical applications, strategies for realizing flexible and transparent 2D electronics using low-temperature, large-area, and low-cost processes should be developed. Motivated by this challenge, we report fully printed transparent chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-synthesized monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) phototransistor arrays on flexible polymer substrates. All the electronic components, including dielectric and electrodes, were directly deposited with mechanically tolerable organic materials by inkjet-printing technology onto transferred monolayer MoS 2 , and their annealing temperature of printed MoS 2 phototransistors exhibit excellent transparency and mechanically stable operation.

An impedimetric study of DNA hybridization on paper-supported inkjet-printed gold electrodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ihalainen, Petri; Määttänen, Anni; Peltonen, Jouko; Pettersson, Fredrik; Pesonen, Markus; Österbacka, Ronald; Viitala, Tapani

2014-01-01

In this study, two different supramolecular recognition architectures for impedimetric detection of DNA hybridization have been formed on disposable paper-supported inkjet-printed gold electrodes. The gold electrodes were fabricated using a gold nanoparticle based ink. The first recognition architecture consists of subsequent layers of biotinylated self-assembly monolayer (SAM), streptavidin and biotinylated DNA probe. The other recognition architecture is constructed by immobilization of thiol-functionalized DNA probe (HS-DNA) and subsequent backfill with 11-mercapto-1-undecanol (MUOH) SAM. The binding capacity and selectivity of the recognition architectures were examined by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) measurements. SPR results showed that the HS-DNA/MUOH system had a higher binding capacity for the complementary DNA target. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements showed that the hybridization can be detected with impedimetric spectroscopy in picomol range for both systems. EIS signal indicated a good selectivity for both recognition architectures, whereas SPR showed very high unspecific binding for the HS-DNA/MUOH system. The factors affecting the impedance signal were interpreted in terms of the complexity of the supramolecular architecture. The more complex architecture acts as a less ideal capacitive sensor and the impedance signal is dominated by the resistive elements. (paper)

Modification of ink-jet paper by oxygen-plasma treatment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vesel, A [Jozef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, Ljubljana 1000 (Slovenia); Mozetic, M [Jozef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, Ljubljana 1000 (Slovenia); Hladnik, A [Pulp and Paper Institute, Bogisiceva 8, Ljubljana 1001 (Slovenia); Dolenc, J [Pulp and Paper Institute, Bogisiceva 8, Ljubljana 1001 (Slovenia); Zule, J [Pulp and Paper Institute, Bogisiceva 8, Ljubljana 1001 (Slovenia); Milosevic, S [Institute of Physics, Bijenicka 46, Zagreb 10000 (Croatia); Krstulovic, N [Institute of Physics, Bijenicka 46, Zagreb 10000 (Croatia); Klanjsek-Gunde, M [National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, Ljubljana 1000 (Slovenia); Hauptmann, N [National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, Ljubljana 1000 (Slovenia)

2007-06-21

A study on oxygen-plasma treatment of ink-jet paper is presented. Paper was exposed to a weakly ionized, highly dissociated oxygen plasma with an electron temperature of 5 eV, a positive-ion density of 8 x 10{sup 15} m{sup -3} and a density of neutral oxygen atoms of 5 x 10{sup 21} m{sup -3}. Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) was applied as a method for detection of the reaction products during the plasma treatment of the paper. OES spectra between 250 and 1000 nm were measured continuously during the plasma treatment. The wettability of the samples before and after the plasma treatment was determined by measuring the contact angle of a water drop. The appearance of the surface-functional groups was determined by using high-resolution x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), while changes in the surface morphology were monitored with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Already after 1 s of the plasma treatment the surface, which was originally hydrophobic, changed to hydrophilic, as indicated by a high absorption rate of a water drop into the paper. The OES showed a rapid increase of the CO and OH bands for the first few seconds of the plasma treatment, followed by a slow decrease during the next 40 s. The intensity of the O atom line showed reversed behaviour. The XPS analyses showed a gradual increase of oxygen-rich functional groups on the surface, while SEM analyses did not show significant modification of the morphology during the first 10 s of the plasma treatment. The results were explained by degradation of the alkyl ketene dimer sizing agent during the first few seconds of the oxygen-plasma treatment.

Modification of ink-jet paper by oxygen-plasma treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vesel, A; Mozetic, M; Hladnik, A; Dolenc, J; Zule, J; Milosevic, S; Krstulovic, N; Klanjsek-Gunde, M; Hauptmann, N

2007-01-01

A study on oxygen-plasma treatment of ink-jet paper is presented. Paper was exposed to a weakly ionized, highly dissociated oxygen plasma with an electron temperature of 5 eV, a positive-ion density of 8 x 10 15 m -3 and a density of neutral oxygen atoms of 5 x 10 21 m -3 . Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) was applied as a method for detection of the reaction products during the plasma treatment of the paper. OES spectra between 250 and 1000 nm were measured continuously during the plasma treatment. The wettability of the samples before and after the plasma treatment was determined by measuring the contact angle of a water drop. The appearance of the surface-functional groups was determined by using high-resolution x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), while changes in the surface morphology were monitored with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Already after 1 s of the plasma treatment the surface, which was originally hydrophobic, changed to hydrophilic, as indicated by a high absorption rate of a water drop into the paper. The OES showed a rapid increase of the CO and OH bands for the first few seconds of the plasma treatment, followed by a slow decrease during the next 40 s. The intensity of the O atom line showed reversed behaviour. The XPS analyses showed a gradual increase of oxygen-rich functional groups on the surface, while SEM analyses did not show significant modification of the morphology during the first 10 s of the plasma treatment. The results were explained by degradation of the alkyl ketene dimer sizing agent during the first few seconds of the oxygen-plasma treatment

The effect of solvent on the morphology of an inkjet printed active layer of bulk heterojunction solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fauzia, Vivi; Umar, Akrajas Ali; Salleh, Muhamad Mat; Yahaya, Muhammad

2011-01-01

Bulk heterojunction organic solar cells were fabricated by sandwiching the active layer between indium tin oxide (ITO) and Al electrodes. The active layer used was a blend of poly(3-octylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3OT) as the electron donor and (6,6)-phenyl C 71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC 71 BM) as the electron acceptor. The active layer thin films were deposited by an inkjet printing technique. Prior to deposition of the thin films, the active materials were blended in three different solvents. The printed films were annealed at three different temperatures. It was found that the selection of the appropriate solvent and annealing treatment significantly influences the printing process, the morphology of the printed film and subsequently the performance of the solar cell devices

Regulation of the Deposition Morphology of Inkjet-Printed Crystalline Materials via Polydopamine Functional Coatings for Highly Uniform and Electrically Conductive Patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Liang; Ma, Siyuan; Pei, Yunheng; Xiong, Xiao; Sivakumar, Preeth; Singler, Timothy J

2016-08-24

We report a method to achieve highly uniform inkjet-printed silver nitrate (AgNO3) and a reactive silver precursor patterns on rigid and flexible substrates functionalized with polydopamine (PDA) coatings. The printed AgNO3 patterns on PDA-coated substrates (glass and polyethylene terephthalate (PET)) exhibit a narrow thickness distribution ranging between 0.9 and 1 μm in the line transverse direction and uniform deposition profiles in the line axial direction. The deposited reactive silver precursor patterns on PDA-functionalized substrates also show "dome-shaped" morphology without "edge-thickened" structure due to "coffee-stain" effect. We posit that the highly uniform functional ink deposits formed on PDA-coated substrates are attributable to the strong binding interaction between the abundant catecholamine moieties at the PDA surface and the metallic silver cations (Ag(+) or Ag(NH3)(2+)) in the solutal inks. During printing of the ink rivulet and solvent evaporation, the substrate-liquid ink (S-L) interface is enriched with the silver-based cations and a solidification at the S/L interface is induced. The preferential solidification initiated at the S-L interface is further verified by the in situ visualization of the dynamic solidification process during solvent evaporation, and results suggest an enhanced crystal nucleation and growth localized at the S-L interface on PDA functionalized substrates. This interfacial interaction mediates solute transport in the liquid phase, resulting in the controlled enrichment of solute at the S-L interface and mitigated solute precipitation in both the contact line region and the liquid ink-vapor (L-V) interface due to evaporation. This mediated transport contributes to the final uniform solid deposition for both types of ink systems. This technique provides a complementary strategy for achieving highly uniform inkjet-printed crystalline structures, and can serve as an innovative foundation for high-precision additive

A review on powder-based additive manufacturing for tissue engineering: selective laser sintering and inkjet 3D printing.

Science.gov (United States)

Shirazi, Seyed Farid Seyed; Gharehkhani, Samira; Mehrali, Mehdi; Yarmand, Hooman; Metselaar, Hendrik Simon Cornelis; Adib Kadri, Nahrizul; Osman, Noor Azuan Abu

2015-06-01

Since most starting materials for tissue engineering are in powder form, using powder-based additive manufacturing methods is attractive and practical. The principal point of employing additive manufacturing (AM) systems is to fabricate parts with arbitrary geometrical complexity with relatively minimal tooling cost and time. Selective laser sintering (SLS) and inkjet 3D printing (3DP) are two powerful and versatile AM techniques which are applicable to powder-based material systems. Hence, the latest state of knowledge available on the use of AM powder-based techniques in tissue engineering and their effect on mechanical and biological properties of fabricated tissues and scaffolds must be updated. Determining the effective setup of parameters, developing improved biocompatible/bioactive materials, and improving the mechanical/biological properties of laser sintered and 3D printed tissues are the three main concerns which have been investigated in this article.

Best practices for ink jet decoration lines in ceramics. Electromagnetic radiation IR machine (wavelength technology); Mejoras practicas para lineas de decoracion Inkjet en ceramica. Maquina IR de radiaciones electromagneticas (tecnologia de longitud de onda)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Galvez, J; Galvez, D

2012-07-01

SACMI IBERICA, S.A., has been awarded by the Spanish Society of Ceramics and Glass (SECV), with one GOLD ALFA, in its 2012 edition, during CEVISAMA for the presentation of the innovative IR Electromagnetic Radiation Machine, which improves the conditions and the production performance of digital decoration lines INKJET and other decorative applications ceramic tile. (Author)

Photoconductive ZnO Films Printed on Flexible Substrates by Inkjet and Aerosol Jet Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Winarski, D. J.; Kreit, E.; Heckman, E. M.; Flesburg, E.; Haseman, M.; Aga, R. S.; Selim, F. A.

2018-02-01

Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films have remarkable versatility in sensor applications. Here, we report simple ink synthesis and printing methods to deposit ZnO photodetectors on a variety of flexible and transparent substrates, including polyimide (Kapton), polyethylene terephthalate, cyclic olefin copolymer (TOPAS), and quartz. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed the dependence of the film orientation on the substrate type and sintering method, and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) absorption measurements revealed a band edge near 380 nm. van der Pauw technique was used to measure the resistivity of undoped ZnO and indium/gallium-codoped ZnO (IGZO) films. IGZO films showed lower resistivity and larger average grain size compared with undoped ZnO films due to addition of In3+ and Ga3+, which act as donors. A 365-nm light-emitting diode was used to photoirradiate the films to study their photoconductive response as a function of light intensity at 300 K. The results revealed that ZnO films printed by aerosol jet and inkjet techniques exhibited five orders of magnitude photoconductivity, indicating that such films are viable options for use in flexible photodetectors.

Process optimization for inkjet printing of triisopropylsilylethynyl pentacene with single-solvent solutions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Xianghua, E-mail: xhwang@hfut.edu.cn [Key Lab of Special Display Technology, Ministry of Education, National Engineering Lab of Special Display Technology, National Key Lab of Advanced Display Technology, Academy of Opto-Electronic Technology, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009 (China); Yuan, Miao [Key Lab of Special Display Technology, Ministry of Education, National Engineering Lab of Special Display Technology, National Key Lab of Advanced Display Technology, Academy of Opto-Electronic Technology, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009 (China); School of Electronic Science & Applied Physics, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009 (China); Xiong, Xianfeng; Chen, Mengjie [Key Lab of Special Display Technology, Ministry of Education, National Engineering Lab of Special Display Technology, National Key Lab of Advanced Display Technology, Academy of Opto-Electronic Technology, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009 (China); Qin, Mengzhi [Key Lab of Special Display Technology, Ministry of Education, National Engineering Lab of Special Display Technology, National Key Lab of Advanced Display Technology, Academy of Opto-Electronic Technology, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009 (China); School of Electronic Science & Applied Physics, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009 (China); Qiu, Longzhen; Lu, Hongbo; Zhang, Guobing; Lv, Guoqiang [Key Lab of Special Display Technology, Ministry of Education, National Engineering Lab of Special Display Technology, National Key Lab of Advanced Display Technology, Academy of Opto-Electronic Technology, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009 (China); Choi, Anthony H.W. [Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong (China)

2015-03-02

Inkjet printing of 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl) pentacene (TIPS-PEN), a small molecule organic semiconductor, is performed on two types of substrates. Hydrophilic SiO{sub 2} substrates prepared by a combination of surface treatments lead to either a smaller size or a coffee-ring profile of the single-drop film. A hydrophobic surface with dominant dispersive component of surface energy such as that of a spin-coated poly(4-vinylphenol) film favors profile formation with uniform thickness of the printed semiconductor owing to the strong dispersion force between the semiconductor molecules and the hydrophobic surface of the substrate. With a hydrophobic dielectric as the substrate and via a properly selected solvent, high quality TIPS-PEN films were printed at a very low substrate temperature of 35 °C. Saturated field-effect mobility measured with top-contact thin-film transistor structure shows a narrow distribution and a maximum of 0.78 cm{sup 2}V{sup −1} s{sup −1}, which confirmed the film growth on the hydrophobic substrate with increased crystal coverage and continuity under the optimized process condition. - Highlights: • Hydrophobic substrates were employed to inhibit the coffee-ring effect. • Contact-line pinning is primarily controlled by the dispersion force. • Solvent selection is critical to crystal coverage of the printed film. • High performance and uniformity are achieved by process optimization.

Preparation of solid silver nanoparticles for inkjet printed flexible electronics with high conductivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Wenfeng; Zhang, Xianpeng; Huang, Qijin; Xu, Qingsong; Song, Weijie

2014-01-01

Silver nanoparticles (NPs) which could be kept in solid form and were easily stored without degeneration or oxidation at room temperature for a long period of time were synthesized by a simple and environmentally friendly wet chemistry method in an aqueous phase. Highly stable dispersions of aqueous silver NP inks, sintered at room temperature, for printing highly conductive tracks (∼8.0 μΩ cm) were prepared simply by dispersing the synthesized silver NP powder in water. These inks are stable, fairly homogeneous and suitable for a wide range of patterning techniques. The inks were successfully printed on paper and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates using a common color printer. Upon annealing at 180 °C, the resistivity of the printed silver patterns decreased to 3.7 μΩ cm, which is close to twice that of bulk silver. Various factors affecting the resistivity of the printed silver patterns, such as annealing temperature and the number of printing cycles, were investigated. The resulting high conductivity of the printed silver patterns reached over 20% of the bulk silver value under ambient conditions, which enabled the fabrication of flexible electronic devices, as demonstrated by the inkjet printing of conductive circuits of LED devices.

Effect of electroless nickel on the series resistance of high-efficiency inkjet printed passivated emitter rear contacted solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lenio, Martha A.T. [REC Technology US, Inc., 1159 Triton Dr., Foster City, CA 94301 (United States); Lennon, A.J.; Ho-Baillie, A.; Wenham, S.R. [ARC Photovoltaics Centre of Excellence, University of NSW, Sydney, NSW 2052 (Australia)

2010-12-15

Many existing and emerging solar cell technologies rely on plated metal to form the front surface contacts, and aluminium to form the rear contact. Interactions between the metal plating solutions and the aluminium rear can have a significant impact on cell performance. This paper describes non-uniform nickel deposition on the sintered aluminium rear surface of passivated emitter and rear contacted (PERC) cells patterned using an inkjet printing technique. Rather than being plated homogeneously over the entire rear surface as is observed on an alloyed aluminium rear, the nickel is plated only in the vicinity of the point openings in the rear surface silicon dioxide dielectric layer. Furthermore, this non-uniform nickel deposition was shown to increase the contact resistance of the rear point contacts by an order of magnitude, resulting in higher series resistance values for these fabricated PERC cells. (author)

Colorimetry as Quality Control Tool for Individual Inkjet-Printed Pediatric Formulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Wickström, Henrika; Nyman, Johan O; Indola, Mathias; Sundelin, Heidi; Kronberg, Leif; Preis, Maren; Rantanen, Jukka; Sandler, Niklas

2017-02-01

Printing technologies were recently introduced to the pharmaceutical field for manufacturing of drug delivery systems. Printing allows on demand manufacturing of flexible pharmaceutical doses in a personalized manner, which is critical for a successful and safe treatment of patient populations with specific needs, such as children and the elderly, and patients facing multimorbidity. Printing of pharmaceuticals as technique generates new demands on the quality control procedures. For example, rapid quality control is needed as the printing can be done on demand and at the point of care. This study evaluated the potential use of a handheld colorimetry device for quality control of printed doses of vitamin Bs on edible rice and sugar substrates. The structural features of the substrates with and without ink were also compared. A multicomponent ink formulation with vitamin B 1 , B 2 , B 3 , and B 6 was developed. Doses (4 cm 2 ) were prepared by applying 1-10 layers of yellow ink onto the white substrates using thermal inkjet technology. The colorimetric method was seen to be viable in detecting doses up to the 5th and 6th printed layers until color saturation of the yellow color parameter (b*) was observed on the substrates. Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry was used as a reference method for the colorimetry measurements plotted against the number of printed layers. It was concluded that colorimetry could be used as a quality control tool for detection of different doses. However, optimization of the color addition needs to be done to avoid color saturation within the planned dose interval.

Aspartate Aminotransferase and Alanine Aminotransferase Detection on Paper-Based Analytical Devices with Inkjet Printer-Sprayed Reagents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hsiang-Li Wang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available General biochemistry detection on paper-based microanalytical devices (PADs uses pipette titration. However, such an approach is extremely time-consuming for large-scale detection processes. Furthermore, while automated methods are available for increasing the efficiency of large-scale PAD production, the related equipment is very expensive. Accordingly, this study proposes a low-cost method for PAD manufacture, in which the reagent is applied using a modified inkjet printer. The optimal reaction times for the detection of aspartate aminotransferase (AST and alanine aminotransferase (ALT are shown to be 6 and 7 min, respectively, given AST and ALT concentrations in the range of 5.4 to 91.2 U/L (R2 = 0.9932 and 5.38 to 86.1 U/L (R2 = 0.9944. The experimental results obtained using the proposed PADs for the concentration detection of AST and ALT in real human blood serum samples are found to be in good agreement with those obtained using a traditional spectrophotometric detection method by National Cheng Kung University hospital.

Declarative and Scalable Selection for Map Visualizations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kefaloukos, Pimin Konstantin Balic

and is itself a source and cause of prolific data creation. This calls for scalable map processing techniques that can handle the data volume and which play well with the predominant data models on the Web. (4) Maps are now consumed around the clock by a global audience. While historical maps were singleuser......-defined constraints as well as custom objectives. The purpose of the language is to derive a target multi-scale database from a source database according to holistic specifications. (b) The Glossy SQL compiler allows Glossy SQL to be scalably executed in a spatial analytics system, such as a spatial relational......, there are indications that the method is scalable for databases that contain millions of records, especially if the target language of the compiler is substituted by a cluster-ready variant of SQL. While several realistic use cases for maps have been implemented in CVL, additional non-geographic data visualization uses...

Assembling surface mounted components on ink-jet printed double sided paper circuit board

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andersson, Henrik A; Manuilskiy, Anatoliy; Haller, Stefan; Sidén, Johan; Nilsson, Hans-Erik; Hummelgård, Magnus; Olin, Håkan; Hummelgård, Christine

2014-01-01

Printed electronics is a rapidly developing field where many components can already be manufactured on flexible substrates by printing or by other high speed manufacturing methods. However, the functionality of even the most inexpensive microcontroller or other integrated circuit is, at the present time and for the foreseeable future, out of reach by means of fully printed components. Therefore, it is of interest to investigate hybrid printed electronics, where regular electrical components are mounted on flexible substrates to achieve high functionality at a low cost. Moreover, the use of paper as a substrate for printed electronics is of growing interest because it is an environmentally friendly and renewable material and is, additionally, the main material used for many packages in which electronics functionalities could be integrated. One of the challenges for such hybrid printed electronics is the mounting of the components and the interconnection between layers on flexible substrates with printed conductive tracks that should provide as low a resistance as possible while still being able to be used in a high speed manufacturing process. In this article, several conductive adhesives are evaluated as well as soldering for mounting surface mounted components on a paper circuit board with ink-jet printed tracks and, in addition, a double sided Arduino compatible circuit board is manufactured and programmed. (paper)

Assembling surface mounted components on ink-jet printed double sided paper circuit board.

Science.gov (United States)

Andersson, Henrik A; Manuilskiy, Anatoliy; Haller, Stefan; Hummelgård, Magnus; Sidén, Johan; Hummelgård, Christine; Olin, Håkan; Nilsson, Hans-Erik

2014-03-07

Printed electronics is a rapidly developing field where many components can already be manufactured on flexible substrates by printing or by other high speed manufacturing methods. However, the functionality of even the most inexpensive microcontroller or other integrated circuit is, at the present time and for the foreseeable future, out of reach by means of fully printed components. Therefore, it is of interest to investigate hybrid printed electronics, where regular electrical components are mounted on flexible substrates to achieve high functionality at a low cost. Moreover, the use of paper as a substrate for printed electronics is of growing interest because it is an environmentally friendly and renewable material and is, additionally, the main material used for many packages in which electronics functionalities could be integrated. One of the challenges for such hybrid printed electronics is the mounting of the components and the interconnection between layers on flexible substrates with printed conductive tracks that should provide as low a resistance as possible while still being able to be used in a high speed manufacturing process. In this article, several conductive adhesives are evaluated as well as soldering for mounting surface mounted components on a paper circuit board with ink-jet printed tracks and, in addition, a double sided Arduino compatible circuit board is manufactured and programmed.

Assembling surface mounted components on ink-jet printed double sided paper circuit board

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andersson, Henrik A; Manuilskiy, Anatoliy; Haller, Stefan; Sidén, Johan; Nilsson, Hans-Erik [Department of Electronics Design, Mid Sweden University, SE-851 70 Sundsvall (Sweden); Hummelgård, Magnus; Olin, Håkan [Department of Natural Science, Mid Sweden University, SE-851 70 Sundsvall (Sweden); Hummelgård, Christine [Acreo Swedish ICT AB, Håstaholmen 4, SE-824 42 Hudiksvall (Sweden)

2014-03-07

Printed electronics is a rapidly developing field where many components can already be manufactured on flexible substrates by printing or by other high speed manufacturing methods. However, the functionality of even the most inexpensive microcontroller or other integrated circuit is, at the present time and for the foreseeable future, out of reach by means of fully printed components. Therefore, it is of interest to investigate hybrid printed electronics, where regular electrical components are mounted on flexible substrates to achieve high functionality at a low cost. Moreover, the use of paper as a substrate for printed electronics is of growing interest because it is an environmentally friendly and renewable material and is, additionally, the main material used for many packages in which electronics functionalities could be integrated. One of the challenges for such hybrid printed electronics is the mounting of the components and the interconnection between layers on flexible substrates with printed conductive tracks that should provide as low a resistance as possible while still being able to be used in a high speed manufacturing process. In this article, several conductive adhesives are evaluated as well as soldering for mounting surface mounted components on a paper circuit board with ink-jet printed tracks and, in addition, a double sided Arduino compatible circuit board is manufactured and programmed. (paper)

Inkjet-printed point-of-care immunoassay on a nanoscale polymer brush enables subpicomolar detection of analytes in blood

Science.gov (United States)

Joh, Daniel Y.; Hucknall, Angus M.; Wei, Qingshan; Mason, Kelly A.; Lund, Margaret L.; Fontes, Cassio M.; Hill, Ryan T.; Blair, Rebecca; Zimmers, Zackary; Achar, Rohan K.; Tseng, Derek; Gordan, Raluca; Freemark, Michael; Ozcan, Aydogan; Chilkoti, Ashutosh

2017-08-01

The ELISA is the mainstay for sensitive and quantitative detection of protein analytes. Despite its utility, ELISA is time-consuming, resource-intensive, and infrastructure-dependent, limiting its availability in resource-limited regions. Here, we describe a self-contained immunoassay platform (the “D4 assay”) that converts the sandwich immunoassay into a point-of-care test (POCT). The D4 assay is fabricated by inkjet printing assay reagents as microarrays on nanoscale polymer brushes on glass chips, so that all reagents are “on-chip,” and these chips show durable storage stability without cold storage. The D4 assay can interrogate multiple analytes from a drop of blood, is compatible with a smartphone detector, and displays analytical figures of merit that are comparable to standard laboratory-based ELISA in whole blood. These attributes of the D4 POCT have the potential to democratize access to high-performance immunoassays in resource-limited settings without sacrificing their performance.

Milligram-per-second femtosecond laser production of Se nanoparticle inks and ink-jet printing of nanophotonic 2D-patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Ionin, Andrey; Ivanova, Anastasia; Khmel'nitskii, Roman; Klevkov, Yury; Kudryashov, Sergey; Mel'nik, Nikolay; Nastulyavichus, Alena; Rudenko, Andrey; Saraeva, Irina; Smirnov, Nikita; Zayarny, Dmitry; Baranov, Anatoly; Kirilenko, Demid; Brunkov, Pavel; Shakhmin, Alexander

2018-04-01

Milligram-per-second production of selenium nanoparticles in water sols was realized through 7-W, 2 MHz-rate femtosecond laser ablation of a crystalline trigonal selenium pellet. High-yield particle formation mechanism and ultimate mass-removal yield were elucidated by optical profilometry and scanning electron microscopy characterization of the corresponding crater depths and topographies. Deposited selenium particles were inspected by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, while their hydrosols (nanoinks) were characterized by optical transmission, Raman and dynamic light scattering spectroscopy. 2D patterns and coatings were ink-jet printed on thin supported silver films and their bare silica glass substrates, as well as on IR-transparent CaF2 substrates, and characterized by electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, and broadband (vis-mid IR) transmission spectroscopy, exhibiting crystalline selenium nanoparticles with high refractive index as promising all-dielectric sensing building nanoblocks in nanophotonics.

Enhanced dispersibility and dispersion stability of dodecylamine-protected silver nanoparticles by dodecanethiol for ink-jet conductive inks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, Xueqin; Li, Wei; Wu, Meilan; Tang, Shen; Liu, Dongzhi

2014-01-01

This work studied dodecylamine-protected silver nanoparticles modified by a small amount of dodecanethiol as the co-protective agent. Contents of the dodecanethiol and the protective agent capping on the surface of silver nanoparticles were analyzed using the method of oxygen flask combustion and a thermogravimetric analysis instrument. Results of electrical property determination and transmission electron microscopy indicate that certain amount of capping dodecanethiol can slow down the spontaneous sintering process of silver nanoparticles. When capping DDT content of silver nanoparticles is 1.70 wt%, 10 wt% suspensions are stable under −18 °C and can be stored stably at room temperature as long as 120 days. Furthermore, the silver nanoparticle concentration could be increased to 20 wt% with a stable storage time of 60 days at room temperature. Finally, stable polymer-free conductive inks with the silver nanoparticle concentration of 20 wt% were produced to fabricate patterns by ink-jet printing. The resistivity of the PI-supported patterns having been annealed at 130 °C for 10 min is 7.2 μΩ cm.

Printable organic thin film transistors for glucose detection incorporating inkjet-printing of the enzyme recognition element

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elkington, D., E-mail: Daniel.Elkington@newcastle.edu.au; Wasson, M.; Belcher, W.; Dastoor, P. C.; Zhou, X. [Centre for Organic Electronics, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan 2308 (Australia)

2015-06-29

The effect of device architecture upon the response of printable enzymatic glucose sensors based on poly(3-hexythiophene) (P3HT) organic thin film transistors is presented. The change in drain current is used as the basis for glucose detection and we show that significant improvements in drain current response time can be achieved by modifying the design of the sensor structure. In particular, we show that eliminating the dielectric layer and reducing the thickness of the active layer reduce the device response time considerably. The results are in good agreement with a diffusion based model of device operation, where an initial rapid dedoping process is followed by a slower doping of the P3HT layer from protons that are enzymatically generated by glucose oxidase (GOX) at the Nafion gate electrode. The fitted diffusion data are consistent with a P3HT doping region that is close to the source-drain electrodes rather than located at the P3HT:[Nafion:GOX] interface. Finally, we demonstrate that further improvements in sensor structure and morphology can be achieved by inkjet-printing the GOX layer, offering a pathway to low-cost printed biosensors for the detection of glucose in saliva.

Electrical Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells into Schwann-Cell-Like Phenotypes Using Inkjet-Printed Graphene Circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Suprem R; Uz, Metin; Ding, Shaowei; Lentner, Matthew T; Hondred, John A; Cargill, Allison A; Sakaguchi, Donald S; Mallapragada, Surya; Claussen, Jonathan C

2017-04-01

Graphene-based materials (GBMs) have displayed tremendous promise for use as neurointerfacial substrates as they enable favorable adhesion, growth, proliferation, spreading, and migration of immobilized cells. This study reports the first case of the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into Schwann cell (SC)-like phenotypes through the application of electrical stimuli from a graphene-based electrode. Electrical differentiation of MSCs into SC-like phenotypes is carried out on a flexible, inkjet-printed graphene interdigitated electrode (IDE) circuit that is made highly conductive (sheet resistance electrically stimulated/treated (etMSCs) display significant enhanced cellular differentiation and paracrine activity above conventional chemical treatment strategies [≈85% of the etMSCs differentiated into SC-like phenotypes with ≈80 ng mL -1 of nerve growth factor (NGF) secretion vs. 75% and ≈55 ng mL -1 for chemically treated MSCs (ctMSCs)]. These results help pave the way for in vivo peripheral nerve regeneration where the flexible graphene electrodes could conform to the injury site and provide intimate electrical simulation for nerve cell regrowth. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Disposable, Paper-Based, Inkjet-Printed Humidity and H2S Gas Sensor for Passive Sensing Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Quddious, Abdul; Yang, Shuai; Khan, Munawar M.; Tahir, Farooq A.; Shamim, Atif; Salama, Khaled N.; Cheema, Hammad M.

2016-01-01

An inkjet-printed, fully passive sensor capable of either humidity or gas sensing is presented herein. The sensor is composed of an interdigitated electrode, a customized printable gas sensitive ink and a specialized dipole antenna for wireless sensing. The interdigitated electrode printed on a paper substrate provides the base conductivity that varies during the sensing process. Aided by the porous nature of the substrate, a change in relative humidity from 18% to 88% decreases the electrode resistance from a few Mega-ohms to the kilo-ohm range. For gas sensing, an additional copper acetate-based customized ink is printed on top of the electrode, which, upon reaction with hydrogen sulphide gas (H2S) changes, both the optical and the electrical properties of the electrode. A fast response time of 3 min is achieved at room temperature for a H2S concentration of 10 ppm at a relative humidity (RH) of 45%. The passive wireless sensing is enabled through an antenna in which the inner loop takes care of conductivity changes in the 4–5 GHz band, whereas the outer-dipole arm is used for chipless identification in the 2–3 GHz band. PMID:27929450

Disposable, Paper-Based, Inkjet-Printed Humidity and H2S Gas Sensor for Passive Sensing Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdul Quddious

2016-12-01

Full Text Available An inkjet-printed, fully passive sensor capable of either humidity or gas sensing is presented herein. The sensor is composed of an interdigitated electrode, a customized printable gas sensitive ink and a specialized dipole antenna for wireless sensing. The interdigitated electrode printed on a paper substrate provides the base conductivity that varies during the sensing process. Aided by the porous nature of the substrate, a change in relative humidity from 18% to 88% decreases the electrode resistance from a few Mega-ohms to the kilo-ohm range. For gas sensing, an additional copper acetate-based customized ink is printed on top of the electrode, which, upon reaction with hydrogen sulphide gas (H2S changes, both the optical and the electrical properties of the electrode. A fast response time of 3 min is achieved at room temperature for a H2S concentration of 10 ppm at a relative humidity (RH of 45%. The passive wireless sensing is enabled through an antenna in which the inner loop takes care of conductivity changes in the 4–5 GHz band, whereas the outer-dipole arm is used for chipless identification in the 2–3 GHz band.

Disposable, Paper-Based, Inkjet-Printed Humidity and H2S Gas Sensor for Passive Sensing Applications

KAUST Repository

Quddious, Abdul; Yang, Shuai; Khan, Munawar M.; Tahir, Farooq A.; Shamim, Atif; Salama, Khaled N.; Cheema, Hammad M.

2016-01-01

An inkjet-printed, fully passive sensor capable of either humidity or gas sensing is presented herein. The sensor is composed of an interdigitated electrode, a customized printable gas sensitive ink and a specialized dipole antenna for wireless sensing. The interdigitated electrode printed on a paper substrate provides the base conductivity that varies during the sensing process. Aided by the porous nature of the substrate, a change in relative humidity from 18% to 88% decreases the electrode resistance from a few Mega-ohms to the kilo-ohm range. For gas sensing, an additional copper acetate-based customized ink is printed on top of the electrode, which, upon reaction with hydrogen sulphide gas (HS) changes, both the optical and the electrical properties of the electrode. A fast response time of 3 min is achieved at room temperature for a HS concentration of 10 ppm at a relative humidity (RH) of 45%. The passive wireless sensing is enabled through an antenna in which the inner loop takes care of conductivity changes in the 4-5 GHz band, whereas the outer-dipole arm is used for chipless identification in the 2-3 GHz band.

Disposable, Paper-Based, Inkjet-Printed Humidity and H2S Gas Sensor for Passive Sensing Applications

KAUST Repository

Quddious, Abdul

2016-12-06

An inkjet-printed, fully passive sensor capable of either humidity or gas sensing is presented herein. The sensor is composed of an interdigitated electrode, a customized printable gas sensitive ink and a specialized dipole antenna for wireless sensing. The interdigitated electrode printed on a paper substrate provides the base conductivity that varies during the sensing process. Aided by the porous nature of the substrate, a change in relative humidity from 18% to 88% decreases the electrode resistance from a few Mega-ohms to the kilo-ohm range. For gas sensing, an additional copper acetate-based customized ink is printed on top of the electrode, which, upon reaction with hydrogen sulphide gas (HS) changes, both the optical and the electrical properties of the electrode. A fast response time of 3 min is achieved at room temperature for a HS concentration of 10 ppm at a relative humidity (RH) of 45%. The passive wireless sensing is enabled through an antenna in which the inner loop takes care of conductivity changes in the 4-5 GHz band, whereas the outer-dipole arm is used for chipless identification in the 2-3 GHz band.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering detection of ammonium nitrate samples fabricated using drop-on-demand inkjet technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Farrell, Mikella E; Holthoff, Ellen L; Pellegrino, Paul M

2014-01-01

The United States Army and the first responder community are increasingly focusing efforts on energetic materials detection and identification. Main hazards encountered in theater include homemade explosives and improvised explosive devices, in part fabricated from simple components like ammonium nitrate (AN). In order to accurately detect and identify these unknowns (energetic or benign), fielded detection systems must be accurately trained using well-understood universal testing substrates. These training substrates must contain target species at known concentrations and recognized polymorphic phases. Ammonium nitrate is an explosive precursor material that demonstrates several different polymorphic phases dependent upon how the material is deposited onto testing substrates. In this paper, known concentrations of AN were uniformly deposited onto commercially available surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates using a drop-on-demand inkjet printing system. The phase changes observed after the deposition of AN under several solvent conditions are investigated. Characteristics of the collected SERS spectra of AN are discussed, and it is demonstrated that an understanding of the exact nature of the AN samples deposited will result in an increased ability to accurately and reliably "train" hazard detection systems.

Design and fabrication of a PET/PTFE-based piezoelectric squeeze mode drop-on-demand inkjet printhead with interchangeable nozzle

KAUST Repository

Li, Erqiang

2010-09-01

A PET/PTFE-based piezoelectric squeeze mode drop-on-demand inkjet printhead with interchangeable nozzles is designed and fabricated. The printhead chamber is comprised of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) tubing or PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene, or Teflon) tubing, which of a much softer material, than the conventionally used glass tubing. Applying the same electrical voltage, PET/PTFE-based printhead will generate a larger volume change in the material to be dispensed. The novel printhead fabricated herein has successfully dispensed liquids with viscosities up to 100 cps, as compared to 20 cps for the commercial printheads. Furthermore, PTFE-based printhead provides excellent anti-corrosive property when strongly corrosive inks are involved. The interchangeable nozzle design enables the same printhead to be fitted with nozzles of different orifice size, thus a clogged nozzle can be easily removed for cleaning or replacement. The characteristics of this novel printhead are also studied by dispensing glycerin-water solutions. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Selection and Vegetative Propagation of Native Woody Plants for Water-Wise Landscaping

OpenAIRE

Rupp, Larry A; Varga, William A; Anderson, David

2011-01-01

Native woody plants with ornamental characteristics such as brilliant fall color, dwarf form, or glossy leaves have potential for use in water conserving urban landscapes. Individual accessions with one or more of these unique characteristics were identified based on the recommendations of a wide range of plant enthusiasts (both professional and amateur). Documentation of these accessions has been done through locating plants on-site where possible and then developing a record based on digita...

Fire-through Ag contact formation for crystalline Si solar cells using single-step inkjet printing.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hyun-Gang; Cho, Sung-Bin; Chung, Bo-Mook; Huh, Joo-Youl; Yoon, Sam S

2012-04-01

Inkjet-printed Ag metallization is a promising method of forming front-side contacts on Si solar cells due to its non-contact printing nature and fine grid resolution. However, conventional Ag inks are unable to punch through the SiN(x) anti-reflection coating (ARC) layer on emitter Si surfaces. In this study, a novel formulation of Ag ink is examined for the formation of fire-through contacts on a SiN(x)-coated Si substrate using the single-step printing of Ag ink, followed by rapid thermal annealing at 800 degrees C. In order to formulate Ag inks with fire-through contact formation capabilities, a liquid etching agent was first formulated by dissolving metal nitrates in an organic solvent and then mixing the resulting solution with a commercial Ag nanoparticle ink at various volume ratios. During the firing process, the dissolved metal nitrates decomposed into metal oxides and acted in a similar manner to the glass frit contained in Ag pastes for screen-printed Ag metallization. The newly formulated ink with a 1 wt% loading ratio of metal oxides to Ag formed finely distributed Ag crystallites on the Si substrate after firing at 800 degrees C for 1 min.

Inkjet Printing NiO-Based p-Type Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Brisse, R; Faddoul, R; Bourgeteau, T; Tondelier, D; Leroy, J; Campidelli, S; Berthelot, T; Geffroy, B; Jousselme, B

2017-01-25

Fabrication at low cost of transparent p-type semiconductors with suitable electronic properties is essential toward the scalability of many electronic devices, especially for photovoltaic and photocatalytic applications. In this context, the synthesis of mesoporous NiO films through inkjet printing of a sol-gel ink was investigated for the first time. Nickel chloride and Pluronic F-127, used as nickel oxide precursor and pore-forming agent, respectively, were formulated in a water/ethanol mixture to prepare a jettable ink for Dimatix printer. Multilayer NiO films were formed, and different morphologies could be obtained by playing on the interlayer thermal treatment. At low temperature (30 °C), a porous nanoparticulate-nanofiber dual-pore structure was observed. On the other hand, with a high temperature treatment (450 °C), nanoparticulate denser films without any dual structure were obtained. The mechanism for NiO formation during the final sintering step, investigated by means of X-ray photolectron spectroscopy, shows that a Ni(OH) 2 species is an intermediate between NiCl 2 and NiO. The different morphologies and thicknesses of the NiO films were correlated to their performance in a p-DSSC configuration, using a new push-pull dye (so-called "RBG-174") and an iodine-based electrolyte. Moreover, the positive impact of a nanometric NiO x layer deposited by spin-coating and introduced between FTO and the NiO mesoporous network is highlighted in the present work. The best results were obtained with NiO x /four layer-NiO mesoporous photocathodes of 860 nm, with a current density at the short circuit of 3.42 mA cm -2 (irradiance of 100 mW cm -2 spectroscopically distributed following AM 1.5).

Modification of the surface properties of a polyimide film during irradiation with polychromic light

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosu, Liliana; Sava, Ion; Rosu, Dan

2011-01-01

The behaviour of a polyimide film with the aromatic structure during the exposure to UV light with λ > 290 nm was studied. Significant changes in color surface and gloss surface were identified during irradiation. Sample became lighten and less glossy after exposure to the light. These modifications were correlated with the structural changes in FTIR spectra. Based on changes in FTIR spectra recorded during irradiation, a mechanism for the photochemical degradation of polyimide film was proposed.

Universal model of bias-stress-induced instability in inkjet-printed carbon nanotube networks field-effect transistors

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Haesun; Choi, Sungju; Jang, Jun Tae; Yoon, Jinsu; Lee, Juhee; Lee, Yongwoo; Rhee, Jihyun; Ahn, Geumho; Yu, Hye Ri; Kim, Dong Myong; Choi, Sung-Jin; Kim, Dae Hwan

2018-02-01

We propose a universal model for bias-stress (BS)-induced instability in the inkjet-printed carbon nanotube (CNT) networks used in field-effect transistors (FETs). By combining two experimental methods, i.e., a comparison between air and vacuum BS tests and interface trap extraction, BS instability is explained regardless of either the BS polarity or ambient condition, using a single platform constituted by four key factors: OH- adsorption/desorption followed by a change in carrier concentration, electron concentration in CNT channel corroborated with H2O/O2 molecules in ambient, charge trapping/detrapping, and interface trap generation. Under negative BS (NBS), the negative threshold voltage shift (ΔVT) is dominated by OH- desorption, which is followed by hole trapping in the interface and/or gate insulator. Under positive BS (PBS), the positive ΔVT is dominated by OH- adsorption, which is followed by electron trapping in the interface and/or gate insulator. This instability is compensated by interface trap extraction; PBS instability is slightly more complicated than NBS instability. Furthermore, our model is verified using device simulation, which gives insights on how much each mechanism contributes to BS instability. Our result is potentially useful for the design of highly stable CNT-based flexible circuits in the Internet of Things wearable healthcare era.

Inkjet-printed thin film radio-frequency capacitors based on sol-gel derived alumina dielectric ink

KAUST Repository

McKerricher, Garret

2017-05-03

There has been significant interest in printing radio frequency passives, however the dissipation factor of printed dielectric materials has limited the quality factor achievable. Al2O3 is one of the best and widely implemented dielectrics for RF passive electronics. The ability to spatially pattern high quality Al2O3 thin films using, for example, inkjet printing would tremendously simplify the incumbent fabrication processes – significantly reducing cost and allowing for the development of large area electronics. To-date, particle based Al2O3 inks have been explored as dielectrics, although several drawbacks including nozzle clogging and grain boundary formation in the films hinder progress. In this work, a particle free Al2O3 ink is developed and demonstrated in RF capacitors. Fluid and jetting properties are explored, along with control of ink spreading and coffee ring suppression. The liquid ink is heated to 400 °C decomposing to smooth Al2O3 films ~120 nm thick, with roughness of <2 nm. Metal-insulator-metal capacitors, show high capacitance density >450 pF/mm2, and quality factors of ~200. The devices have high break down voltages, >25 V, with extremely low leakage currents, <2×10−9 A/cm2 at 1 MV/cm. The capacitors compare well with similar Al2O3 devices fabricated by atomic layer deposition.

Inkjet 3D printing of UV and thermal cure silicone elastomers for dielectric elastomer actuators

Science.gov (United States)

McCoul, David; Rosset, Samuel; Schlatter, Samuel; Shea, Herbert

2017-12-01

Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) are an attractive form of electromechanical transducer, possessing high energy densities, an efficient design, mechanical compliance, high speed, and noiseless operation. They have been incorporated into a wide variety of devices, such as microfluidic systems, cell bioreactors, tunable optics, haptic displays, and actuators for soft robotics. Fabrication of DEA devices is complex, and the majority are inefficiently made by hand. 3D printing offers an automated and flexible manufacturing alternative that can fabricate complex, multi-material, integrated devices consistently and in high resolution. We present a novel additive manufacturing approach to DEA devices in which five commercially available, thermal and UV-cure DEA silicone rubber materials have been 3D printed with a drop-on-demand, piezoelectric inkjet system. Using this process, 3D structures and high-quality silicone dielectric elastomer membranes as thin as 2 μm have been printed that exhibit mechanical and actuation performance at least as good as conventionally blade-cast membranes. Printed silicone membranes exhibited maximum tensile strains of up to 727%, and DEAs with printed silicone dielectrics were actuated up to 6.1% area strain at a breakdown strength of 84 V μm-1 and also up to 130 V μm-1 at 2.4% strain. This approach holds great potential to manufacture reliable, high-performance DEA devices with high throughput.

The micro-droplet behavior of a molten lead-free solder in an inkjet printing process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsai, M H; Chou, H H; Hwang, W S

2009-01-01

An experimental investigation on the droplet formation of molten Sn3.0 wt%Ag0.5 wt%Cu alloy by an inkjet printing process was conducted. The printing process used a piezoelectric print head with a nozzle orifice diameter of 50 µm. Micro-droplets of a molten lead-free solder were ejected at 230 °C. The print head was driven by a bipolar pulse 40 V in amplitude. The major variables for this study were two pulse times; t rise /t finalrise and t fall , as well as N 2 back-pressure in the molten solder reservoir. Under various printing conditions, extrusion of the liquid column, contraction of liquid thread and pinch-off of liquid thread at nozzle exit were observed by monitoring the dynamics of the molten solder droplet ejection process. The droplet formation was found to be insensitive to t rise and t finalrise in the range of 250–1000 µs. The behavior of droplet formation was, however, significantly affected by the transfer rate, t fall , in the range of 30–60 µs and t fall of 50 µs yielded the most desirable condition of single droplet formation. The N 2 back-pressure was also found to be critical, where a back pressure between 10 and 21 kPa could give the desirable single-droplet formation condition

Obstetrics and Gynaecology Forum: Submissions

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Figures consist of all material which cannot be set in type, such as photographs and line drawings. (Tables are not included in this classification and should not be submitted as photographs.) Photographs should be glossy, unmounted prints. In no circumstances should original X-ray films be forwarded; glossy prints must be ...

Colour print workflow and methods for multilayering of colour and decorative inks using UV inkjet for fine art printing

Science.gov (United States)

Parraman, Carinna

2012-01-01

In order to increase density of colour and improve ink coverage when printing onto a range of non standard substrates, this paper will present research into multi-layering of colour and the appearance of colour at 'n' levels of ink coverage. Returning to our original investigation of artist's requirements when making inkjet prints, these observations are based on empirical approaches that address the need to present physical data that is more useful and meaningful to the designer. The study has used multi-pass printed colour charts to measure colour and to provide users with an understanding at a soft-preview level to demonstrate the appearance of printed colour on different substrates. Test results relating to the appearance of print on different surfaces, and a series of case studies will be presented using recent research into the capabilities of UV printing technology, which has widened the opportunities for the designer to print onto non-standard materials. It will also present a study into layering of greys and gloss in order to improve the appearance of printed images onto metal.

A new technique for the deposition of standard solutions in total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (TXRF) using pico-droplets generated by inkjet printers and its applicability for aerosol analysis with SR-TXRF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fittschen, U.E.A.; Hauschild, S.; Amberger, M.A.; Lammel, G.; Streli, C.; Foerster, S.; Wobrauschek, P.; Jokubonis, C.; Pepponi, G.; Falkenberg, G.; Broekaert, J.A.C.

2006-01-01

A new technique for the deposition of standard solutions on particulate aerosol samples using pico-droplets for elemental determinations with total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (TXRF) is described. It enables short analysis times without influencing the sample structure and avoids time consuming scanning of the sample with the exciting beam in SR-TXRF analysis. Droplets of picoliter volume (∼ 5-130 pL) were generated with commercially available and slightly modified inkjet printers operated with popular image processing software. The size of the dried droplets on surfaces of different polarity namely silicone coated and untreated quartz reflectors, was determined for five different printer types and ten different cartridge types. The results show that droplets generated by inkjet printers are between 50 and 200 μm in diameter (corresponding to volumes of 5 to 130 pL) depending on the cartridge type, which is smaller than the width of the synchrotron beam used in the experiments (< 1 mm at an energy of 17 keV at the beamline L at HASYLAB, Hamburg). The precision of the printing of a certain amount of a single element standard solution was found to be comparable to aliquoting with micropipettes in TXRF, where for 2.5 ng of cobalt relative standard deviations of 12% are found. However, it could be shown that the printing of simple patterns is possible, which is important when structured samples have to be analysed

The Influence of Friction Between Football Helmet and Jersey Materials on Force: A Consideration for Sport Safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Rossi, Anthony M; Claiborne, Tina L; Thompson, Gregory B; Todaro, Stacey

2016-09-01

The pocketing effect of helmet padding helps to dissipate forces experienced by the head, but if the player's helmet remains stationary in an opponent's shoulder pads, the compressive force on the cervical spine may increase. To (1) measure the coefficient of static friction between different football helmet finishes and football jersey fabrics and (2) calculate the potential amount of force on a player's helmet due to the amount of friction present. Cross-sectional study. Laboratory. Helmets with different finishes and different football jersey fabrics. The coefficient of friction was determined for 2 helmet samples (glossy and matte), 3 football jerseys (collegiate, high school, and youth), and 3 types of jersey numbers (silkscreened, sublimated, and stitched on) using the TAPPI T 815 standard method. These measurements determined which helmet-to-helmet, helmet-to-jersey number, and helmet-to-jersey material combination resulted in the least amount of static friction. The glossy helmet versus glossy helmet combination produced a greater amount of static friction than the other 2 helmet combinations (P = .013). The glossy helmet versus collegiate jersey combination produced a greater amount of static friction than the other helmet-to-jersey material combinations (P < .01). The glossy helmet versus silkscreened numbers combination produced a greater amount of static friction than the other helmet-to-jersey number combinations (P < .01). The force of static friction experienced during collisions can be clinically relevant. Conditions with higher coefficients of static friction result in greater forces. In this study, the highest coefficient of friction (glossy helmet versus silkscreened number) could increase the forces on the player's helmet by 3553.88 N when compared with other helmet-to-jersey combinations. Our results indicate that the makeup of helmet and uniform materials may affect sport safety.