In this work, coaxial conductor–ceramic
direct ink writing
enables the printing of sensitive or encapsulated materials onto heterogeneous
and rough substrates. While encasing the core fluid within a stiff
ceramic shell, continuity may be maintained, even while printing onto
conventionally challenging substrates. Here, we report the development
of a coaxial ceramic direct ink writing suite and explore coflow interrelationships
based on microfluidic principles. A coaxial nozzle is designed to
facilitate the coextrusion of an alumina shell, whereas indium–tin-oxide
inks constitute the core. In this manner, a core–shell ceramic
element may be printed onto rough substrates for future high-temperature
applications. Colloidal inks are engineered to provide the required
rheological and sintering performance. Moreover, flow simulations
in conjunction with microfluidic coflow principles are used to explore
the coaxial printing processing space, thus controlling the core–shell
architectures. Physical modeling is further used to analyze core deformations
and eccentricity. Simulations are validated experimentally, and the
analyses are used to deposit coaxial ceramic features onto heterogeneous,
high-temperature ceramic substrates.