3D Inkjet Printing of Electronics Using UV Conversion

Ehab Saleh, Fan Zhang, Yinfeng He, Jayasheelan Vaithilingam, Javier Ledesma Fernandez, Ricky Wildman, Ian Ashcroft, Richard Hague, Phill Dickens, Christopher Tuck

Research output: Journal PublicationArticlepeer-review

54 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The production of electronic circuits and devices is limited by current manufacturing methods that limit both the form and potentially the performance of these systems. Additive manufacturing (AM) is a technology that has been shown to provide cross-sectoral manufacturing industries with significant geometrical freedom. A research domain known as multifunctional AM (MFAM) in its infancy looks to couple the positive attributes of AM with application in the electronics sector can have a significant impact on the development of new products; however, there are significant hurdles to overcome. This paper reports on the single step MFAM of 3D electronic circuitry within a polymeric structure using a combination of conductive and nonconductive materials within a single material jetting-based AM system. The basis of this breakthrough is a study of the optical absorption regions of a silver nanoparticle (AgNP) conductive ink which leads to a novel method to rapidly process and sinter AgNP inks in ambient conditions using simple UV radiation contemporaneously with UV-curing of deposited polymeric structures.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1700134
JournalAdvanced Materials Technologies
Volume2
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • UV sintering
  • additive manufacturing
  • conductive ink
  • polymeric ink

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

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