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  • A 3D‐Printed Printhead: Cus...
    Raposo Pinto, Rui Miguel; Faraji, Mohammadmahdi; Vinayakumar, Kadayra Basavarajappa

    Advanced engineering materials, June 2024, Volume: 26, Issue: 12
    Journal Article

    Inkjet is a versatile non‐contact printing technique that uses droplets of ink jetted from nozzles to print on a variety of substrates. Although some modern piezoelectric printheads support high viscosity fluids (>10 cP), they are currently expensive and may not be suited for many benchtop experiments in research environment. Here, the design, fabrication by 3D‐printing (no cleanroom processes or silicon micromachining are involved) and testing of a multi‐purpose single‐nozzle piezoelectric dispenser/printhead for medium‐viscosity fluids (10–60 cP) is reported. Custom control electronics are developed to drive the printhead. The design features a 200 μm diameter nozzle, suitable for nL drop generation with solutions containing nm sized particles, thus allowing the deposition of μm thick layers of functional inks in a single printing pass. The inkjet dispenser is first tested with glycerol solutions, resulting in drops of 1.9–3.6 nL with typical drop velocity of 0.5–1.3 m s−1. The developed piezoelectric dispensing system is then demonstrated in the printing of a two‐layer capacitive sensor, using silver nanoparticle ink (conductive ink) and a transparent encapsulant ink (dielectric ink). The reported piezoelectric dispenser design can be optimized for many research purposes, allowing the dispensing of functional chemicals, materials, and biomolecules. Inkjet is a versatile non‐contact printing technique that uses droplets of ink to print on a variety of substrates. The design, fabrication by 3D‐printing and testing of a low‐cost, multi‐purpose single‐nozzle piezoelectric dispenser/printhead for medium‐viscosity fluids (10–60 cP) is reported – this design can be optimized for many research purposes, allowing the dispensing of functional chemicals, materials, and biomolecules.