Principle of topography-directed inkjet printing for functional micro-tracks in flexible substrates
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 topograph...
Gespeichert in:
Veröffentlicht in: | Journal of applied physics 2017-06, Vol.121 (24) |
---|---|
Hauptverfasser: | , , , , , , |
Format: | Artikel |
Sprache: | eng |
Schlagworte: | |
Online-Zugang: | Volltext |
Tags: |
Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
|
Zusammenfassung: | 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. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 0021-8979 1089-7550 |
DOI: | 10.1063/1.4989837 |