Corona-Enabled Electrostatic Printing for Ultra-fast Manufacturing of Binder-Free Multifunctional E-Skins

Abstract

As essential components in intelligent systems, printed soft electronics (PSEs) are playing crucial roles in public health, national security, and economics. Innovations in printing technologies are required to promote the broad application of high-performance PSEs at a low cost. However, current printing techniques are still facing long-lasting challenges in addressing the conflict between printing speed and performance. To overcome this challenge, we developed a new corona-enabled electrostatic printing (CEP) technique for ultra-fast (milliseconds) roll-to-roll (R2R) manufacturing of binder-free multifunctional e-skins. The printing capability and controllability of CEP were investigated through parametric studies and microstructure observation. The electric field generation, material transfer, and particle amount and size selecting mechanisms were numerically and experimentally studied. CEP printed graphene e-skins were demonstrated to possess outstanding strain sensing performance. The binder-free feature of the CEP-assembled networks enables them to provide pressure sensitivity as low as 2.5 Pa, and capability to detect acoustic signals of hundreds of hertz in frequency. Furthermore, the CEP technique was utilized to pattern different types of functional materials (e.g., graphene and thermochromic polymers) onto different substrates (e.g., tape and textile). Overall, this study demonstrated that CEP can be a novel contactless and ultrafast manufacturing platform compatible with R2R process for fabricating high-performance, scalable, and low-cost soft electronics.

Window+: Electrostatic levitation enabled Polymer-Air multilayer (EPAM) structures for highly transparent energy efficient windows

“…However, both ways deteriorate the Vt of the multiple layers. In this paper, we innovatively propose to utilize electrostatic force to stably and uniformly separate polymer films at long-term without deteriorating the Vt. [42] To maintain durable and controllable air gap, corona discharging (CD) was utilized to create "permanent" charges in transparent polymer films without deteriorating their Vt. [43][44][45][46][47][48] CD is a broadly used technology for polymer film surface modification in industry, suitable for mass production with treatment speed up to 500 m/min. [49] However, it was discovered that the surface potential fluctuates significantly among samples treated with the same parameters, which cannot contribute to controllable the repulsion force between films.…”

Statistical reconstruction of heterogenous microstructures based on 2D images

“…As noted by Jiao et al 6 , it is customary to visually represent the function 𝑓 with the values of 0 and 1 corresponding to white and black pixels, respectively. For instance, Figure 1a shows an SEM image of graphene networks fabricated using contactless electrostatic printing technique 7 , which was binarized to obtain the target image for reconstruction (Figure 1b). This is in direct contrast to the traditional representation of binary images in computer science which set values of 0 and 1 to black and white pixels, respectively (Figure 1c).…”

“…Additional statistical descriptors, such as the two-point cluster correlation function (CCF) and linear path function, can be used to encode cluster-to-cluster statistical information. Commonly, CCF's are used when some images cannot be entirely expressed by their TPC 4,7 . While this study did not implement the CCFs, the proposed novel optimization strategy is compatible with the CCFs and can readily incorporate them in the reconstruction algorithm.…”

Inkjet Printing: A Viable Technology for Biosensor Fabrication

“…On the other hand, nanografting techniques are capable of producing nano-sized features, but the technique is not suitable for mass production [63,64]. Although electrostatic inkjet printers and electrohydrodynamic inkjet printers can produce nano-sized spots, both of the printers are limited to conductive inks only [65][66][67]. Furthermore, photolithography allows for high-resolution patterning at the expense of high cost, requiring multiple steps such as mask preparation, photopatterning, and etching processes [68,69].…”