About this Abstract |
Meeting |
MS&T23: Materials Science & Technology
|
Symposium
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2023 Undergraduate Student Poster Contest
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Presentation Title |
Optimizing the Adhesion of Aerosol Jet Printing Silver Ink onto Surface Treated Silicone |
Author(s) |
Anuvi Gupta, Janet L Gbur |
On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Anuvi Gupta |
Abstract Scope |
Silicone (polydimethylsiloxane) is a common material in flexible point of care devices and wearable electronics. While the field is rapidly expanding, many of the current fabrication techniques are complex and expensive. One solution is aerosol jet printing a conductive circuit onto a silicone insert; however, silicone is an inert substrate with a low surface energy. This research is focused on altering the surface properties of silicone in order to increase the surface energy, which can improve the adhesion of the silver ink onto the substrate. Silicone samples were cleaned in isopropyl alcohol then etched under different conditions, with variances in power, gas flow, and etching duration. Post-etching, the surface roughness was measured using optical profilometry. Plasma etching the silicone surface led to increases in the surface roughness for all parameters. Ongoing work will examine how the increased surface roughness affects the deposition and adhesion of the silver ink. |