Patterning Micro-Nano Structures Based on Tip-Assisted Electrohydrodynamic Jet Printing

Abstract

Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) printing has been chosen as an efficient method for the fabrication of micro-nano patterned structures. The biggest advantage of this method is its high resolution, because the printing results can be much smaller than the inner diameter of the nozzle. EHD printing can be used to print a high-viscosity organic conductive material on a flexible substrate for the fabrication of flexible electronic devices by using electrohydrodynamic phenomena. However, the printing resolution is affected by the inner diameter of the nozzle when printing high-viscosity materials. Herein, we propose a tip-assisted EHD printing method to further improve the resolution of printing results. This work experimentally demonstrates that micro-nano patterned structures whose size is smaller than the inner diameter of the nozzle can be printed via tip-assisted EHD printing.