• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.111-118
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• 2017

Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) printing with the aid of strong electric fields can generate and pattern droplets that are smaller than droplets by other printing technologies. Conventional EHD printing has created two-dimensional (2D) patterns by moving its nozzle or a substrate in X and Y directions. In this study, we aimed to develop an EHD system that can create 2D patterns using a multielectrode array (MEA) without moving a nozzle or substrate. In particular, printing ink mixtures of biodegradable polymers and model dyes was patterned on a thin film made of another biodegradable polymer. Without movement of a nozzle and substrate, stable 2D patterning of minimum $6{\mu}m$ size over a range of about 1 mm away from the nozzle position was achieved by MEA control only. We also demonstrated the possibility of denser 2D pattering of the ink mixtures by moving a target substrate relative to MEA position.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.3.2-3.2
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• 2011

In recent years, inkjet printing technology has received significant attention as a micro/nanofabrication technique for flexible printing of electronic circuits and solar cells, as well for biomaterial patterning. It eliminates the need for physical masks, causes fewer environment problems, lowers fabrication costs, and offers good layer-to-layer registration. To fulfill the requirements for use in the above applications, however, the inkjet system must meet certain criteria such as high frequency jetting, uniform droplet size, high density nozzle array, etc. Existing inkjet devices are either based on thermal bubbles or piezoelectric pumping; they have several drawbacks for flexible printing. For instance, thermal bubble jetting has limitations in terms of size and density of the nozzle array as well as the ejection frequency. Piezoelectric based devices suffer from poor pumping energy in addition to inadequate ejection frequency. Recently, an electrohydrodynamic (EHD) printing technique has been suggested and proposed as an alternative to thermal bubble or piezoelectric devices. In EHD jetting, a liquid (ink) is pumped through a nozzle and a strong electric field is applied between the nozzle and an extractor plate, which induce charges at the surfaces of the liquid meniscus. This electric field creates an electric stress that stretches the meniscus in the direction of the electric field. Once the electric field force is larger than the surface tension force, a liquid droplet is formed. An EHD inkjet head can produce droplets smaller than the size of the nozzle that produce them. Furthermore, the EHD nano-inkjet can eject high viscosity liquid through the nozzle forming tiny structures. These unique features distinguish EHD printing from conventional methods for sub-micron resolution printing. In this presentation, I will introduce the recent research results regarding the EHD nano-inkjet and the printing system, which has been applied to solar cell or thin film transistor applications.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.37 no.9
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• pp.873-877
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• 2013

The application of inkjet technology has been broadening from home printers to manufacturing tools. Recently, there have been demands for high-resolution printing, especially in the field of printed electronics applications. To improve upon the conventional inkjet printing patterning method, electrohydrodynamic (EHD) inkjet technology has recently attracted attention because droplets smaller than the nozzle diameter can be ejected and materials with wider viscosity range can be used for jetting. In this study, an EHD jet printing system for fine patterning is presented. To print various patterns based on drop on demand printing, vector and raster printing algorithm are implanted in the printing software. Fine conductive patterns with line width of less than $7{\mu}m$ can be easily achieved via EHD jet using a nozzle with inner diameter of $8{\mu}m$.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.593-597
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• 2015

Ni ink for electrohydrodynamic (EHD) continuous jet printing has been developed by using Ni nanoparticles mixed with conhesiveness provider. EHD continuous jet printing was used in order to realize $20{\mu}m$ pattern width. Ink stability was investigated by using Turbi-scan which monitors agglomeration and precipitation of nanoparticles in the ink for three days. The Turbi-scan results showed that the formulated Ni ink had been stable for 3 days without any indication of precipitation across the entire ink. Antireflection coating (ARC) layer in crystalline solar cell wafers was removed by laser ablation technique leading to the formation of 84 grooves where the Ni ink was printed by EHD continuous jet printing. The printability and microstructure of EHD-jet-printed Ni lines were investigated by using optical and electron microscopes. 84 Ni lines with the width less than $20{\mu}m$ were successfully printed by one-time printing without any misalignment and fill the laser-ablated ARC grooves.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.1913-1916
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• 2008

Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) printing has gained significant interest after a direct writing with a resolution of a few tens nanometer was demonstrated using EHD. Basically, EHD use the electric field to generate droplet which is much smaller than nozzle diameter, so that high resolution printing is possible and the clogging problem can be alleviated as well. However, to adapt this technology to the real application, the fundamental studies are necessary to stabilize EHD jetting, to maximize jetting frequency, and to optimize the design of multi EHD nozzle, etc. In this study, by imaging EHD jetting using high speed camera and measuring the current, the effect of electric field intensity and back pressure on jetting frequency and jetting diameter were studied.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.37-42
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• 2019

The objective of this study was to study the bending characteristics of Ag nano ink using EHD (Electrohydrodynamics) inkjet printing technology for flexibility and miniaturization of devices. The optimal conditions for the technology were derived, and bending characteristics of the Ag nano circuit obtained. For the EHD printing, it is essential to find the optimal point for each parameter such as material characteristics, density, flow rate, voltage, discharge height etc. Therefore, it was derived as the point from the working height and the applied voltage. Also, bending characteristics are confirmed by measuring resistance with each radius of curvature using a fabricated bending module. It was confirmed that rate of resistance change increases rapidly as the radius of curvature increases.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.449-454
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• 2012

The method for spraying of liquid through an electrical filed has become a printing method since it can make very small droplet. To increase the reliability using the electro-hydrodynamic (EHD) jet printing, the jetting status needs to be monitored. Vision measurement techniques using high speed camera has been used to visualize the jet images. However, it requires image processing of a lot of images after image acquisitions. So, it is difficult to understand jet behavior such as jetting frequency, jet repeatability etc. In this work, a low cost electrical current measurement method was developed to measure electrical current from EHD jet printing. To verify the jetting monitoring capability of developed circuit, images from high speed camera were processed for comparison purpose.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.295-301
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• 2012

The method for spraying of liquids through an electrical field has become a printing method since it can make very small droplet. For electro-hydrodynamic jet printing to become a reliable jetting tool, the jetting performance should be characterized with respect to various jetting conditions. To optimize jetting conditions, the jetting behavior should be measured. In this study, we present a visualization techniques to measure jetting behavior from electro-hydrodynamic (EHD) inkjet head. Unlike most previous method, we use the CCD camera to measure the jetting behavior. For this purpose, LED light is synchronized with jetting signal and sequential image was obtained by adjusting the delay time of the LED light. Finally, merits and demerits of using CCD camera were discussed to measure jetting image from EHD inkjet head.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.356-360
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• 2015

The specific role of current collectors was investigated at the electrolyte/electrode interface of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). Ag grids were fabricated as current collectors using electrohydrodynamic (EHD) jet printing for precise control of the grid geometry. The Ag grids reduced both the ohmic and polarization resistances as the pitch of the Ag grids decreased from $400{\mu}m$ to $100{\mu}m$. The effective electron distribution along the Ag grids improved the charge transport and transfer at the interface, extending the active reaction sites. Our results demonstrate the applicability of EHD jet printing to the fabrication of efficient current collectors for performance enhancement of SOFCs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.113-114
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• 2012