Printed Electronics and Additive Manufacturing: Functional Materials, Processing Techniques, and Emerging Applications: Session IV
Sponsored by: TMS Functional Materials Division, TMS: Thin Films and Interfaces Committee
Program Organizers: Tolga Aytug, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Pooran Joshi, Elbit Systems of America; Rahul Panat, Carnegie Mellon University; Yong Lin Kong, University of Utah; Konstantinos Sierros, West Virginia University; Changyong Cao, Case Western Reserve University ; Dave Estrada, Boise State University; Ravindra Nuggehalli, New Jersey Institute of Technology
Wednesday 8:30 AM
March 22, 2023
Room: Sapphire 411B
Location: Hilton
Session Chair: Tolga Aytug, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Ravindra Nuggehalli, New Jersey Institute of Technology; Pooran Joshi, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
8:30 AM Invited
Liquid Metal Inks for Printed Stretchable Electronics: Gallium Alloy Interactions with the Environment: Robin Dietrich1; Zachary Farrell2; Christopher Tabor1; 1US Air Force; 2Cornerstone Research Group
Recent research efforts will be discussed related to printed stretchable electronics based on gallium alloys. These alloys are liquid at room temperature, but provide enormously rich surface chemistries that can be used to control their responsive electro-mechanical properties. Understanding these surfaces has led to the development of inks for a variety of printing techniques such as screen printing, extrusion, and jet printing that are being used to fabricate novel flexible and stretchable electronics and hybrid electronics. Applications are being explored such as on-body networks for wearable data and power routing, capacitive touch sensors for soft robotics, and dry electrodes for long term electrophysiological measurements such as ECG.
8:55 AM Invited
All-carbon Nanomaterial Inks for Print-In-Place, Recyclable, and Water-based Electronics: Aaron Franklin1; 1Duke University
Additive printing of electronics directly onto any surface has been sought for decades. Despite significant progress, reports on fully direct-write printed electronics continue to rely on excessive thermal treatments and/or fabrication processes external from the printer. In this talk, recent progress towards print-in-place electronics will be discussed; print-in-place involves loading a substrate into a printer, printing all needed layers, then removing the substrate with electronic devices immediately ready to test. Inks from various nanomaterials make this possible, including 2D graphene and hexagonal boron nitride, and 1D carbon nanotubes. Using an aerosol jet printer, these nanomaterial-based inks are printed into thin-film transistors (TFTs) using a maximum process temperature of 70 ºC. Complete recyclability of these print-in-place transistors will be discussed, fabricated entirely using nanoscale carbon-based inks. Finally, the same set of carbon-based inks will be demonstrated for use in all-aqueous (completely water-based) printed CNT-TFTs, eliminating dependence on processing with harsh solvents.
9:20 AM Invited
Ultraconductive Copper-Carbon Nanotube Composite for Advanced Conductors: Kai Li1; Michael McGuire1; Andrew Lupini1; Fred List1; Burak Ozpineci1; James Haynes1; Tolga Aytug1; 1Oak Ridge National Laboratory
The power losses associated with the electrical resistance of copper (Cu) have generated considerable interest in the development of advanced conductors that incorporate carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into Cu matrix―ultra-conductive Cu (UCC) composites―to increase energy efficiency in various industrial and residential applications. To meet this demand, we describe an electrospinning-based polymer nanofiber templating strategy to fabricate UCC composites with electrical and mechanical performance exceeding that of Cu. Our approach involves electrospinning of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP)-based solutions containing CNTs into aligned PVP/CNT nanofibers onto Cu substrates, followed by thermal treatment to achieve a uniformly distributed CNT layer. Following additional Cu deposition, Cu-CNT-Cu composites demonstrated similar electrical conductivity, higher current carrying capacity, and improved mechanical properties compared with those of Cu. We believe that these performance characteristics together with the commercial viability of present approach could open new possibilities in designing advanced conductors for a broad range of electrical systems and industrial applications.
9:45 AM Cancelled
Conductive Polyhydroxybutyrate/Reduced Graphene Oxide Biocomposite Temperature Sensor: Dan Li1; 1Beijing University of Technology
A negative temperature coefficient (NTC) temperature-responsive composite is reported (where the NTC is defined as (R-R0)/(R0△T)). Our materials consist of a high melting point biopolymer (polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB)) and graphenic nanomaterial (reduced graphene oxide (rGO)). At a given temperature, the electronic properties of the composites are strongly dependent on the concentration of rGO within the polymer matrix. Upon heating, these materials exhibit large and reversible changes in resistivity (NTC of - 0.008 /°C) and fast response time (less than 70 ms for a 3 wt% rGO composite). This response results from the semiconducting properties of the rGO, where the number of charge carriers in the conduction band increases with temperature, thereby reducing the overall resistivity of the composites.The composites are solution processible and thus are compatible with direct printing. Devices are further connected to the wireless system to monitor wellness data in a time-controlled manner.
10:05 AM Break
10:25 AM Invited
Microreactor-assisted Nanomaterial Printing for Additive Manufacturing of Functional Materials and Devices: V. Vinay K. Doddapaneni1; Jeffery Dhas1; Chuankai Song1; Havva Aysal2; Abbasi Sakineh1; Han Mei1; Konstantinos Sierros2; Somayeh Pasebani1; Brian Paul1; Mark Rice1; Greg Herman1; Changqing Pan1; Chih-Hung Chang1; 1Oregon State University; 2West Virginia University
The Microreactor-Assisted Nanomaterial Deposition (MAND) offers precise control over reaction, organization, and transformation processes to manufacture nanostructured materials with distinct morphologies, structures, and properties. In synthesis, microreactor technology offers large surface-area-to-volume ratios within microchannel structures to accelerate heat and mass transport. This accelerated transport allows for rapid changes in reaction temperatures and concentrations, leading to more uniform heating and mixing in the deposition process. The possibility of synthesizing nanomaterials in the required volumes at the point of application eliminates the need to store and transport potentially hazardous materials. Further, MAND provides new opportunities for tailoring novel nanostructures and nano-shaped features, opening the opportunity to assemble unique nanostructures and nanostructured thin films. I will discuss our recent advances in MAND-based synthesis and direct printing of nanomaterials via both solution and vapor phase routes and applying these reactive nanomaterials in-situ in additive manufacturing to manufacture various functional materials and devices.
10:50 AM Invited
All-printed and Broadband Piezoelectric Force Sensors for Structural Health Monitoring: Zhangxian Deng1; 1Boise State University
Piezoelectric materials build up significant surface electrical charges when stressed. Dynamic piezoelectric force sensors have been developed by correlating the force magnitude with the resulting charge density. Due to the severe electrical charge leakage, piezoelectric force currently cannot detect quasi-static forces. This study developed an innovative broadband force sensor consisting of interdigitated silver electrodes deposited on piezoelectric polymers, in which the dynamic and static force components are detected through the piezoelectric response and the electrical impedance across the electrodes, respectively. To enhance the uniformity of the piezoelectric films resulting from direct ink writing, ink preparation and thermal curing were first systematically investigated. Electrical poling was then analyzed to maximize the piezoelectric coupling effect. The printed piezoelectric sensor was eventually validated using commercial strain-gauge- or quartz-based sensors from DC to 1 kHz.
11:15 AM
Photonic Sintering of Multiprinter Compatible Gold Nanomaterial Inks for Epidermal Electronics: Tony Valayil Varghese1; David Estrada1; Josh Eixenberger1; 1Boise State University
Low sintering and biocompatible conductive metal inks are highly attractive to the growing flexible hybrid electronic (FHE) market and wearable health care diagnostics applications. But temperature sensitivity of the substrates and biocompatibility of the inks are being the main challenge to the rapid growth of this technology. This work focuses on the development of multi-jet printer-compatible gold nanoparticle inks and the development of epidermal electronic tattoos (e-tattoos) for noninvasive health care diagnostic devices. Detailed analysis of the material characterization, ink properties, and printing parameters for multiple printer modalities including Ink Jet printer (IJP), Aerosol Jet printer (AJP), and Plasma Jet printer (PJP) performed. Also, Low-temperature photonic sintering and in situ plasma sintering of the printed nanomaterials on a wide variety of substrates are studied for achieving bulk-like performances for the printed structures. Finally, multiple biocompatible epidermal sensors are developed using scalable additive manufacturing and post-processing procedures.
11:35 AM
Evaluating the Electrical Properties of Thermally Decomposed Binders via Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy for Direct Ink Writing of Flexible Electronics: Harrison Loh1; Alan Bristow1; Konstantinos Sierros1; 1West Virginia University
During the formulation of printable inks for DIW, polymers are frequently added as particle stabilizers or rheological modifiers. Thermal treatments are often needed for decomposing these additives, although complete removal can require temperatures above the working threshold of flexible substrates. While DIW benefits from quick prototype design modifications and flexible fabrication conditions, one limitation compared to chemical or physical material growth is the disconnect between nanoparticles/2D nanomaterials added to inks for printing functional structures (e.g. conductive circuits), requiring critical volume loadings to achieve percolative pathways. This challenges may be addressed with incomplete decomposition of polymers, which has been cited to produce conductive residues, reducing thermal treatment requirements and enhancing conductive bridging between particles. In this work, THz spectroscopy is used to analyze the carrier dynamics of polymers subjected to thermal treatments, with the aim of exploring the potential of enhancing the performance of printed inks using conductive residue.