Printable Ink Materials and Electronics for Extreme Environments
Abstract
Printable metallic conductors, coupled with robust mechanical and thermal stability, exhibit potential for additive manufacturing in radiofrequency electronics. However, their electrical conductivity is indispensable for realizing their potential in microwave communication, particularly considering the essential aspect of miniaturization in microwave applications. Contemporary research has demonstrated varying success in the use of conductive inks with these methods. These inks include metallic nanostructured inks, carbon nanoscale inks, and ceramic inks, as well as conductive polymer inks. Metallic inks consistently show a greater viability for printable electronics due to their relatively higher electrical conductivity. This leaves copper as a sustainable alternative due to its low cost and competitive electrical performance. Despite this, there are some inherent challenges to using copper inks. Commonly copper inks have consisted of copper nanostructured inks and copper precursor based molecular decomposition inks. Copper nanostructured inks have a greater tendency of ambient condition oxidation as compared to traditional gold or silver-based inks as well as other copper molecular decomposition inks. Similarly, they often require the use of additives to prevent agglomeration, to enhance printability and decrease their oxidation potential. Although useful, these additives often increase the initial sintering conditions for high electrical conductivity. Therefore, the combination of additive manufacturing techniques using a printable precursor-based ink can prove more effective for the manufacturing of extreme environment electronic devices.
Biography
Dr. Shenqiang Ren is Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Maryland College Park with research interests in materials design and transformative manufacturing of emerging multifunctional materials. He earned his Ph.D. degree in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Maryland College Park, and then served as a postdoc fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He received 2015 National Science Foundation – CAREER Award, 2014 Army Research Office – Young Investigator Award, 2014 RSC Emerging Investigator, 2013 NSF EPSCOR First Award, 2013 Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship, 2009 Dean’s Doctoral Research Award and Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award at the University of Maryland, College Park.