Synthesis and Formulation of Ternary Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Alloys for Additive Electronic Manufacturing

Compared with the most investigated graphene, layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have received significant attention due to their various chemical compositions and great potential electronic application. In order to tailor and engineer properties of TMDs and therefore enhance their efficiency toward commercial applications, several methods have been employed including reducing dimensionality, creating inter and intra-heterostructures, introducing inter stain, and alloying. Among these, alloying via chemical vapor transport (CVT) is scalable, cost- efficient, and controllable method of tuning TMD bulk crystal properties. Alloying of TMDs can be categorized into several types including metal replacement, dichalcogenide replacement, and both metal and dichalcogenide replacement. In a typical TMD CVT reaction, high-purity precursors are mixed in a desired stochiometric ratio, vacuumed, and sealed in an ampoule to form a closed system. The resulting TMD crystal can then be used for additional processes, e.g., exfoliation to yield 2D TMD nanosheets. Additive electronics manufacturing is a promising technique for the scalable fabrication of electronic devices, including sensors and energy storage devices. For an ink to be compatible for different printing modalities the ink rheology including viscosity, surface tension, and solid requires to be tuned to obtain suitable fluid dynamic parameters for jetting the ink. This work summarizes the development, synthesis, characterization, and formulation of two-dimensional ternary TMDCs ink for aerosol jet printing (AJP) technology. Ball milling assisted liquid exfoliation is utilized for synthesizing ternary TMDs nanomaterials under controlled condition. The resulting nanomaterial is developed into nanomaterial ink compatible with AJP. Detailed analysis of the material characterization and ink properties are required to optimize the fluid dynamics and properties of the ink. After printing the formulated ink using AJP on various substrates, post-printing process techniques is required to be investigated for printed nanomaterials inks to achieve bulk-like performance for the printed structures. Our results highlight the innovations in synthesis and formulation of ternary transition metal dichalcogenide nanomaterial inks for additive manufacturing of electronic devices such as sensors, solar cells, and energy storage devices.