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University of Wisconsin–Madison engineers have created a nanofiber material that outperforms its widely used counterparts — including steel plates and Kevlar fabric — in protecting against high-speed projectile impacts. Basically, it’s better than bulletproof. “Our nanofiber mats exhibit protective properties that far surpass other material systems at a much lighter weight,” says Ramathasan Thevamaran, a UW–Madison assistant professor of engineering physics who led the research. He and his collaborators detailed the advance in a paper published recently in the journal ACS Nano. To create the material, Thevamaran and postdoctoral researcher Jizhe Cai mixed multi-walled carbon nanotubes — carbon cylinders just one atom thick in each layer — with Kevlar nanofibers. The resulting nanofiber mats are superior at dissipating energy from the impact of tiny projectiles moving faster than the speed of sound. The advance lays the groundwork for carbon nanotube used in lightweight, high-performance armor materials, for example, in bulletproof vests to better protect the wearer or in shields around spacecraft to mitigate damage from flying high-speed microdebris. “Nano-fibrous materials are very attractive for protective applications because nanoscale fibers have outstanding strength, toughness, and stiffness compared to macroscale fibers,” Thevamaran says. “Carbon nanotube mats have shown the best energy absorption so far, and we wanted to see if we could further improve their performance.” They found the right chemistry. The team synthesized Kevlar nanofibers and incorporated a tiny amount of them into their carbon nanotube mats, which created hydrogen bonds between the fibers. Those hydrogen bonds modified the interactions between the nanofibers and, along with just the right mixture of Kevlar nanofibers and carbon nanotubes, caused a dramatic leap in the overall material’s performance. “The hydrogen bond is a dynamic bond, which means it can continuously break and re-form again, allowing it to dissipate a high amount of energy through this dynamic process,” Thevamaran says. “In addition, hydrogen bonds provide more stiffness to that interaction, which strengthens and stiffens the nanofiber mat. When we modified the interfacial interactions in our mats by adding Kevlar nanofibers, we were able to achieve nearly 100% improvement in energy dissipation performance at certain supersonic impact velocities.” Bring on the bullets. The researchers tested their new material using a laser-induced microprojectile impact testing system in Thevamaran’s lab. One of only a handful like it in the United States, the system uses lasers to shoot micro-bullets into the material samples. “Our system is designed such that we can actually pick a single bullet under a microscope and shoot it against the target in a very controlled way, with a very controlled velocity that can be varied from 100 meters per second all the way to over 1 kilometer per second,” Thevamaran says. “This allowed us to conduct experiments at a time scale where we could observe the material’s response — as the hydrogen bond interactions happen.” In addition to its impact resistance, another advantage of the new nanofiber material is that, like Kevlar, it is stable at both very high and very low temperatures, making it useful for applications in a wide range of extreme environments. The researchers are patenting their innovation through the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. Claire Griesbach, a doctoral student in Engineering Physics, is a co-author of the study. This research was supported by funding from the U.S. Army Research Office and the UW–Madison Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education. For more information: https://news.wisc.edu/new-lightweight-super-material-could-battle-bullets-deflect-space-debris/

Speaker: Steven Bagshaw | Company: CPI | Date: 11-12 May 2021 | Full Presentation Bio Steve is responsible for business development activities across CPI’s printed electronics platform. Steve’s expertise lies in the area of printed electronics, printed sensing and its role in the development of the internet of things and industry 4.0. Steve has delivered on a number of successful private projects at CPI, helping new research ideas develop from prototype and through to commercial deployment. Clients include industries such as automotive, aerospace, defence, packaging and medtech. These projects involve working with companies of all sizes ranging from large corporates to SMEs and academia. Previously Steve held marketing positions at CPI, where he was responsible for managing the marketing operations of CPI’s printable electronics division. Steve’s role was to provide an end user focus in the scale up and commercialisation of products and processes related to printable electronics. He has extensive knowledge in emerging technology areas such as intelligent print, printed lighting and enabling technologies such as materials integration and barrier encapsulation. Prior to joining CPI in 2008, Steve graduated from Northumbria University in Business Studies and is currently studying an Executive MBA at Warwick Business School. Join TechBlick on an annual pass to join all live online conference or online version of onsite conference access library of on-demand talks (600 talks + PDFs) portfolio of expert led masterclass year-round platform https://www.techblick.com/ And do NOT miss our flagship event in Berlin on 17-18 OCT 2023 focused on Reshaping the Future of Electronics. This event attracts 550-600 participants from all the world and offers a superb ambience and dynamic exhibition floor. To learn more visit https://www.techblick.com/electronicsreshaped To see feedback about previous event see https://www.techblick.com/events-agenda

Speaker: Mauro Francesco Sgroi | Company: Stellantis | Date: 9-10 Feb 2022 | Full Presentation The current worldwide effort to electrify the private transport sector is based on the availability of Li-ion cells with high specific energy, long cycle life and acceptable cost. Electrodes and electrolytes materials play a fundamental role in determining the performances of Li-ion cells. The use of critical raw materials, such as cobalt and graphite, is a crucial aspect for the LIBs market and novel materials have to be developed. Computational materials science is widely used to design new materials and to optimize the properties of the existing ones: in the field of Li-ion cells this approach led to a deeper understanding of many chemical-physical phenomena associated with the operation of the cell. After a general introduction, the main computational approaches to simulate the Li-ion cells materials will be presented including DFT methods and molecular dynamics. Finally the talk will concentrate on the development of a robust and predictive DFT method for the description of a disordered cubic Li2TiS3 system, a cobalt-free high capacity material showing promising properties as cathode in all-solid-state Li batteries. Join TechBlick on an annual pass to join all live online conference or online version of onsite conference access library of on-demand talks (600 talks + PDFs) portfolio of expert led masterclass year-round platform https://www.techblick.com/ Our next battery-related event will take place on 15-16 FEB 2023, covering 1) Solid-State Batteries: Innovations, Promising Start-Ups, & Future Roadmap 2) Battery Materials: Next-Generation & Beyond Lithium Ion The speakers include: General Motors, Graphenix Development, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Fraunhofer IKTS, RWTH Aachen University, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, Meta Materials Inc, Skeleton Technologies, Solid State Battery Inc, Argonne National Laboratories, OneD Battery Sciences, VTT, Leyden Jar Technologies B.V., b-Science, Rho Motion, Wevo-Chemie, LiNA Energy, CNM Technologies, Ionblox, Empa, Zinc8 Energy Solutions, Avicenne Energy, Echiontech, South8 Technologies, Basquevolt, NanoXplore, Chasm, Li Metal, Sila Nanotechnologies, Quantumscape (tentative), Fraunhofer ISI, etc https://www.techblick.com/

Speaker: Doyoung Byun | Company: ENJET Inc| Date: 11-12 May 2021 | Full Presentation Bio Doyoung Byun received the PhD degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Korea, in 2000. He has worked in several institutes and academies and founded the Enjet in 2009 in order to commercialize his high resolution printing and coating technologies for the printed electronics. Since 2009, he has served as CEO in the Enjet. He has developed the novel femto-liter droplet dispensing technology, electrostatic spray nozzle for functional coating, micro-fluidic devices, and MEMS devices. Based on these core technologies, he could commercialize ultra-fine printing and spray coating solutions for OLED display, micro-LED display, mobile phone, and bio-medical applications. The Enjet is a high resolution inkjet printing solution leader and has a vision to provide innovative tools of printed electronics (2D and 3D), replacing conventional vacuum processes in OLED, PCB, Semiconductor, Glass, Bio-medical, and energy industries. The Enjet has further dreams to develop 3D additive manufacturing solutions for printed electronics. The Enjet has been developing a high resolution inkjet head with multi-nozzles, which can dispense higher viscous ink than the conventional ones and form pico-liter or even femto-liter droplets. With this novel inkjet head, we can print and manufacture 3D electronic devices from the provided model data and personal customized products. Join TechBlick on an annual pass to join all live online conference or online version of onsite conference access library of on-demand talks (600 talks + PDFs) portfolio of expert led masterclass year-round platform https://www.techblick.com/ And do NOT miss our flagship event in Berlin on 17-18 OCT 2023 focused on Reshaping the Future of Electronics. This event attracts 550-600 participants from all the world and offers a superb ambience and dynamic exhibition floor. To learn more visit https://www.techblick.com/electronicsreshaped To see feedback about previous event see https://www.techblick.com/events-agenda

A Korean research team has developed a deep-ultraviolet (DUV) LED with an entirely new material. The DUV LED refers to a semiconductor light source designed to emit ultraviolet (UV) light with a short wavelength of 200 to 280 nanometers. Irradiating this LED on viruses or bacteria destroys harmful pathogens while minimizing harm to the human body. A POSTECH research team led by Professor Jonghwan Kim and Ph.D. candidates Su-Beom Song and Sangho Yoon (Department of Materials Science and Engineering) has produced DUV LED for the first time using hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). The team’s work was published in the journal Nature Communications. Unlike visible light, UV light can destroy or alter the form of a material. Among UV lights, the near-UV light has high penetration depth and can cause diseases when the skin is exposed to it. However, DUV light has extremely low skin penetrability and is anticipated to be safely used. For this reason, research to develop DUV LEDs has been active, mainly using aluminum gallium nitride (AlxGa1-xN). However, this material has a fundamental limitation in that its electroluminescence rapidly deteriorates as the wavelength becomes shorter and fabricating LEDs that can be used in the DUV frequencies remains a challenge. Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) used by Professor Jonghwan Kim’s research team is a van der Waals (vdW) layered material like graphite. It is often called the ‘white graphene’ because its monolayer structure is similar to graphene and is transparent. Unlike AlxGa1-xN, it emits luminescence at DUV frequencies and therefore considered an effective new material for developing DUV LEDs. However, it has been difficult to inject electrons and holes due to its large bandgap*1, rendering it difficult to make into an LED. To this, the researchers focused on injecting electrons and holes to the hBN band edges by applying a strong voltage to the hBN nanofilm inducing the tunneling mechanism. With this, the researchers successfully fabricated an LED device based on a van der Waals heterostructure stacked with graphene, hBN, and graphene. Subsequent DUV micro-spectroscopy confirmed that the newly fabricated device emits strong UV light. “The development of a new high-efficiency LED material in a new frequency can be the starting point for pioneering groundbreaking optical device applications that have never been seen before,” remarked Professor Jonghwan Kim who led the study. “It is significant that this study presented the first demonstration of a deep-ultraviolet LED based on hBN.” He added, “Compared to the conventional AlxGa1-xN material, the new material has significantly higher efficiency of luminescence and enables miniaturization. It is anticipated to be highly applicable in viral and bacterial sterilization systems, semiconductor device manufacturing processes, and short-range wireless communication in the future.” Recently published in the world-renown journal Nature Communications, this research was conducted with the support from the Senior Researcher Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea and the Institute for Basic Science. *1. Bandgap The minimum energy required for electrons bound to a semiconductor or insulator to escape. More information: https://www.postech.ac.kr/eng/worlds-first-hbn-based-deep-ultraviolet-led/?pageds=2&k=&c=

POSTECH-UNIST joint research team proposes a dynamic sensory system using artificial receptors that generate spike signals. The newly developed system enables real-time response that mimics real skin and achieves structural simplicity. We can pick up objects and take steady steps thanks to the tactility in our hands and feet. As such, skin acts as a channel that connects the external world or stimuli with the human body. When these sensory functions do not work properly, it becomes difficult to grasp or use objects, or in worse cases, fail to protect ourselves from dangerous external stimuli such as heat that can cause burns. Therefore, it is paramount for electric skin – being developed for artificial skin or humanoid robots – to be capable of reacting to the external environment in real time. A POSTECH research team led by Professor Unyong Jeong and Ph.D. candidate Taeyeong Kim (Department of Materials Science and Engineering) in collaboration with Professor Sung-Phil Kim and Ph.D. candidate Jaehun Kim (Department of Biomedical Engineering) at UNIST has developed an electronic skin that can sense tactility just as humans do. Conventional electronic skins could only process tactile information by sequential measurement of electric signals coming from the vast number of pixels configured in the sensor. Thus, densely packed pixels took much time to measure, rendering it difficult to create an electronic skin with a high spatial resolution that responds immediately to stimuli. The skin’s sensory receptors1 generate a spike signal2 spectrum in the form of electric potential in response to an external stimulus and recognize it by analyzing the signal pattern in the brain. The researchers took a hint from this signal generation and recognition mechanism of the skin’s sensory system to develop an artificial sensory receptor that generates spike signals on its own and created an electronic skin that can send all signals simultaneously to be analyzed in real-time. Since a biosignal lacks information on location, it is difficult to recognize a dynamic external stimulus in the high spatial definition. To overcome this limitation, the researchers presented for the first time that the artificial spike signals can be characterized to contain the position information. Equipped with this functionality, the e-skin can analyze spatial information such as position and motion trace, and temporal information such as speed and dynamic contact area. Since all artificial receptors in an e-skin transmit signals with only one pair of measuring electrodes, the electrode structure has been simplified compared to the conventional e-skins. Applying this technology to an actual robot, the researchers confirmed that the artificial skin reacts to external stimuli as humans do. “Our body steadily generates electric signals thanks to the flexible nature of electrolytes,” explained Professor Unyong Jeong of POSTECH who is a co-corresponding author of the study. “Understanding the biosensory mechanisms and developing methods to actualize them with electrolyte materials, we anticipate the e-skin to be applicable to recover tactility in damaged skin in patients and make robots with the ability to emotionally connect with humans. Professor Sung-Phil Kim of UNIST, the other co-corresponding author of the study, remarked, “Converting the external stimuli into spike signals and processing them is a groundbreaking idea that mimics how the human nervous system processes information.” He added, “If a new AI model is developed using this spike information encoding method, robot tactile intelligence can be further developed and effectively applied to next-generation semiconductor technologies such as neuromorphic chips.” Published in the international journal Science Robotics, this study was conducted with support from the Basic Research Laboratory Program and the Brain Convergence Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea. 1. Receptors sensory nerve endings that respond to various stimuli 2. Spike signal An electrical signal that generates a voltage and then disappears due to a change in the distribution of ions in the receptor when there is an external stimulus. More information: https://www.postech.ac.kr/eng/electronic-skin-that-can-feel-in-real-time/?pageds=1&k=&c=

Diabetes is a long-term chronic disease with many complications and requires care over a lifetime. The longer a patient suffers from diabetes, the higher the risk of developing retinopathy which can progressively lead to a decline in vision and even to blindness. A POSTECH research team led by Professor Sei Kwang Hahn and Ph.D. candidate Geon-Hui Lee (Department of Materials Science and Engineering) in collaboration with Dr. Sangbaie Shin of PHI BIOMED Co. has recently developed a smart contact lens-type wearable device to prevent diabetic retinopathy and treat it in its early stages by irradiating 120 µW far-red/LED light to the retina. This technology for smart LED contact lens has attracted great attention for various ophthalmologic diseases. Diabetic retinopathy is currently treated by highly invasive repeated therapeutic injections to the eyeball or thousands of small burns made with a laser to destroy capillaries near the edges of the retina under anesthesia. Both procedures are considered highly painful for the patient. Through the study with diabetic animal models, the researchers confirmed that the diabetic retinopathy did not appear in animals that wore the smart contact lenses for 15 minutes 3 times a week for a total of 8 weeks. In contrast, the animals that did not wear the lenses showed retinopathic conditions. The safety and effectiveness of the lenses were also confirmed by the histological analysis of the cornea and retina. "This study has demonstrated the feasibility of a lens-type wearable device for the applications not only to monitoring oxygen saturation, heart beating rate, and ophthalmologic diseases but also to treating depression, insomnia, neuronal diseases and more," remarked Professor Sei Kwang Han who led the study. Published in the international academic journal Advanced Science, this study was conducted by the support from the Nano · Material Technology Development Program, Disease Oriented Translational Research, Mid-career Researcher Program, Brain Korea 21 Fostering Outstanding Universities (FOUR) project, and the Korea Medical Device Development Fund of the National Research Foundation of Korea, and by the World Class 300 Project of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups of Korea. For more information: https://www.postech.ac.kr/eng/smart-led-contact-lenses-for-treating-diabetic-retinopathy/?pageds=1&k=&c=

For printed electronics with digital additive printing Advanced Metallization with Highly Conductive Ag, Au, and Pt Metal Complex Inks Problem: As the world of electronics continues to change shape - literally - and products become wearable, flexible, foldable and capable of processing data at the same time, the demand for the tiny circuitry making it all possible has hit a tipping point creating a need for new solutions. In addition, the drive for innovation and a secure supply chain in semiconductor packaging and biomedical devices is of core importance today. One of the most fundamental components and an emerging lever for innovation in additive manufacturing is conductive inks. Currently metal inks, such as silver (Ag), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), platinum (Pt) and gold (Au), are widely used for circuits, gas, thermal and biological sensors due to their high electrical conductivity, catalytic activity and high corrosion resistance. However, traditional metallic inks are based on metal nanoparticles (NPs): these inks contain colloidal NPs suspension captured by ligands to prevent agglomeration. Performance of these inks is degraded by their high electrical resistivity and short shelf life. Additionally, making NPs based Ag, Pt and Au inks is expensive and not environmentally friendly. Solution: Particle-free Cu, Ni, Ag, Au and Pt conductive inks from Electroninks, Inc (Austin TX). Electroninks has developed particle-free metallo-organic -based inks that have several performance and reliability benefits over nanoparticle-based inks. Particle-free inks consisting of metal-organic precursors typically have better performance because they reduce metal films more cleanly, often at lower temperature. Because the final films do not have organic surfactants, etc., they tend to survive stress/ adhesion tests, and reliability to MSL and aerospace standards. II. BACKGROUND Never has there been greater pressure to pack more electronics - in all shapes, sizes and levels of power - into a wider range of consumer and industrial products than there is today. From foldable displays in new 5G flip phones to medical sensors in athletic wear to RFID tags on every item in every container entering every port around the world, powerful tiny circuitry is making it possible. While Moore’s Law is a major enabler in fueling this trend, equally critical is advances in additive manufacturing. These advancements are creating a wealth of possibilities for low cost and highly functional microelectronics. One of the most fundamental components and an emerging lever for innovation in additive manufacturing is conductive inks. This white paper details new formulations for advanced, high- performance conductive metal inks that Electroninks is developing to expand its proprietary line of particle-free conductive inks. Currently, silver inks are being effectively used to make electrodes. However, due to electromigration at relatively high temperatures and humidity conditions, silver inks cannot be used for all applications. Other noble metal inks, such as those based on platinum (Pt) and gold (Au), are widely used for protective circuits, gas, thermal and biological sensors due to their catalytic activity and high corrosion resistance. But the More Conventional Approaches to Metallization – technique of coating metal on the surface of objects – have limitations. These traditional approaches that have been used for years do not perform as well at certain temperatures, can be highly toxic, have low viscosity and have other tooling issues making them impractical for high volume manufacturing. For example, traditional gold and platinum inks are based on metal nanoparticles (NPs): these inks contain colloidal NPs suspension captured by ligands to prevent agglomeration. Performance of these inks is degraded by their high electrical resistivity and short shelf life. Additionally, making NPs based Pt and Au inks is expensive and not environmentally friendly. Customer Benefits: ● Multi-hour printing with fine features can be attained with particle-free inks ● Higher performance using less precious metals allows for more sustainable, cost effective products Enter New Gold (Au) Particle-Free Inks From Electroninks: Now, there’s another way: metallo- organic precursors. This useful material is gaining attention for preparing particle-free conductive ink formulations. But what are they? Metallo-organic precursors are a chemical compound with a metal atom and one or more organic ligands that are connected to the metal atom through various functional groups. Metallo-organic compounds can be designed to decompose at various temperature ranges by changing the strength of the complex consisting of the metal and organic compound. Still, gold inks have been used for printing conductive features. Most of them use conventional nanoparticle-based formulations. Electroninks has developed particle-free metallo- organic based precursors that have several benefits over nanoparticle-based inks. Particle-free inks consisting of metal-organic precursors decompose more cleanly and often at lower temperature. Multi-hour printing with fine features can be attained with particle-free inks. Metallo-organic inks also have higher shelf life than nanoparticle-based inks. In this white paper, we describe how gold(I)amine-based particle-free ink formulations are being used to produce highly conductive fine gold lines by aerosol jet printing technology. New Platinum (Pt) Particle-Free INks From Electroninks: Also gaining attention is the deposition of metallic platinum thin film. It is being used in a wide range of applications in electronics, including forming contacts in microelectronic devices, high temperature electrochemical, and catalytic applications. Compared to more common noble metals such as gold and silver, application of platinum is challenging and related reports are sparse. The common deposition method of platinum includes gas-phase deposition, electrochemical, and electroless deposition methods. These conventional processes are often impractical and difficult for large scale production. Table 1: Comparison of NPs based Ag, Au and Pt inks with Electroninks particle-free Ag, Au and Pt inks III.AEROSOL JET PRINTING PROCESS Aerosol jet printing is one of the non-contact deposition methods. The schematic of this printing process involves jetting out an ink mist produced by ultrasonic or pneumatic atomization. Electroninks Au and Pt inks are specifically designed for ultrasonic atomization which can attain higher printing resolution compared with the pneumatic atomization process. The process of printing circuits, sensors, or interconnects with an aerosol jet printer (OPTOMEC system or IDS nanojet system) using Electroninks particle- free Au or Pt ink is mostly decided by customers and substrates. However, a typical process is described below: Preparation – substrate preparation and cleaning are influential for less defects and good adhesion of the printed patterns to the substrate surface. Take a flat surface without any surface mounted substrate as an example: the substrates will be cleaned with a common solvent to remove any residues or dust from the surface. The substrate will thengothroughadehydrationbakesteptoevaporatethesolvent. Other cleaning or preparations can also be applied in this step such as UV ozone and plasma. Mapping Out and Size Correction – the substrate will be placed on the printer platen. The alignment camera in the printer will precisely measure the surface dimension which will be used to map out the surface through AutoCAD®. The customer usually has the CAD design of the substrates, but this step is still necessary to align the CAD design and the real substrate size. Size modification/ correction is necessary if offset is detected from the CAD file and real measurement. Design – The patterns will be designed based on the mapped out/ modified surface in AutoCAD. The pads can be printed by both serpentine and perimeter fill. Printing – Electroninks particle-free Au/Pt inks are aerosol jetted through the ultrasonic atomizer. Due to the novel ink formulation design the volatile solvent will evaporate through the journey from atomizer to the printing heads and the chemical reaction creates a thin Au/Pt precursor film on the substrate surface. The Au/Pt precursor film is tacky and gel-like, so the printing can achieve a good printing quality even at a RT platen. The ink stream width can be controlled by a combination of printing tip, sheath gas, carrier gas, and printing speed. Multiple layers are applied to achieve the desired film thickness/OPS without any wait time between layers. Electroninks Pt ink can be UV cured and achieve comparable or better electrical properties. IV. IDS AEROSOL JET SYSTEM Integrated Deposition Solution (IDS) has developed the next generation aerosol jetting print head technology. An image of the desktop printer and the NanoJet print head are shown in Figure 1. This jetting process, trademarked NanoJet, relies on both hydrodynamic and aerodynamic focusing to be able to collimate and focus a broad aerosol droplet size distribution resulting in printed lines with exceptional printed edge quality. The NanoJet technology relies on the use of multiple aerodynamic lenses to be able to focus the finer aerosol droplets in an aerosol stream that would have historically led to overspray at the printed line edges. Some examples of NanoJet aerosol printed lines using the Electroninks inks will be presented in part V. Figure 1: Photograph showing (a) the NanoJet desktop printer and the next generation (b) Nanojet aerosol print head developed at IOS. V. AEROSOL JET PRINTED GOLD AND SILVER STRUCTURES Gold printing through an IDS aerosol jet system: Electroninks particle-free Au ink has around 4-10 wt.% solid fraction, but the mass output is competitive with NPs based inks. The ink is concentrated in the atomization and high vapor pressure solvents will be removed though the journey from the ultrasonic atomizer to the printing head to ensure a decent mass output. The deposited ink is visually translucent and tacky on the substrate as shown in Figure 2(a). Due to this novel ink formulation design, Electroninks particle-free Au ink can be printed at a room temperature platen with a relatively high mass output. This property is critical when printing on conformal surfaces. Figure 2(b) shows a 4-point resistivity structure printed by Electroninks particle-free Au ink through the aerosol jet system. The printed structure is thermal cured at 300° C for 1 hour to achieve the best electrical conductivity. The SEM of above gold samples are shown in Figure 3. Although necking formation and fusing gold clusters are observed from the top side SEM in Figure 3(a), the average particle size is estimated at 100nm. The cured gold film is packed densely from the cross-section SEM in Figure 3(b), final thickness is measured at 900nm. Figure 2: Au ink printing on glass (a) before thermal curing; (b) after curing at 300C for 1h Figure 3: (a) Top side; (b) cross section SEM images of Au sample per conditions in chart Overspray and satellite spots are inevitable in aerosol jet printing. The overspray and satellite spots are caused by less weight droplets with insufficient inertia to be focused by the centra sheath gas and deposited along the edge of designed lines. Electroninks particle-free Au ink has excellent atomization and exhibits limited overspray and satellite spots in fine features printing by IDS system. Figure 4 shows an optical image of fine-line printed through an IDS NanoJet system with approximately 60μm linewidth. This improved line edge definition and overall line quality makes Electroninks particle-free Au ink suitable for dense interconnects printing in compact electronics. Figure 4: Fine feature printed by Electroninks Au ink through an IDS system, cured per conditions in chart Silver printing through an IDS aerosol jet system: Electroninks particle free silver ink has 14% silver loading, and it has the same ink formulation mechanism as Electroninks gold ink to ensure a high-mass output. Most of the existing silver inks in the markets require to print at the elevated temperature to prevent spreading during printing. This limits the printing on the conformal surfaces or printing on 3D substrates. One of the highlights of Electroninks silver ink is able to print high aspect ratio structures without heated platen. Figure 5(a) shows a fine features printing processed by Electroninks silver ink at a room temperature platen. The printed features have minimized overspray and satellites spot, line width is measured at 15μm with approximate 2μm thickness as shown in Figure 5(b). Figure 5: (a) Fine feature printed by Electroninks Ag ink; (b) profile of printed fine features Early efforts in developing the aerosol jetting technologies were focused on printing of very fine-line features with a linewidth as small as 10μm, which is shown in Figure 5. While this capability is very useful for a variety of applications, some more recent efforts have focused on increasing the material output rate from IDS NanoJet to meet the demands of higher throughput, production applications. An example of a structure printed for RF applications is shown in Figure 6(a). These structures were printed with the Electroninks silver ink using a bed temperature of 120°C. Profilometry measurements for these printed structures are shown in Figure 6(b). For these particular structures, multiple printing passes were used to achieve the printed layer thickness. As the profilometry data shows, the printed layer thickness varies somewhat and further optimization is needed to improve feature uniformity; however, these features are useful for the proof-of-concept work requested. The average height of the printed structure is 20μm and the maximum height is 40μm. These types of printed structures are proving useful for a variety of applications. One device under development includes a flexible, implantable stimulator where thicker printed coils provide high power coupling efficiency to implanted device at a range up to 5 cm from the power source. Figure 6: (a) NanoJet printed structures for RF performance evaluation, (b) Profilometry showing measured height of the NanoJet printed structures Another important advantage of aerosol jet printing is the extended working distance between the print nozzle exit face and the print substrate surface. Since the IDS NanoJet aerosol stream is collimated, clean prints can be made with the spacing between the nozzle face and the print substrate ranging from 1 – 5 mm or more. This ability can be particularly useful for printing features onto non-traditional substrates. An example of such a print is shown in Figure 7. The substrate is a 3D printed plastic dome and the Electroninks silver ink was used by an IDS system to print full-bridge, strain gauge circuit onto the dome. This demonstration was used to showcase recent advancements in the printed electronics space. By combining the next generation aerosol printing technology from IDS NanoJet with particle-free inks from Electroninks, it was able to demonstrate the ability to print an electronic circuit onto a complex shaped surface in a continuous fashion using an ink that was able to be cured in-situ during printing on a low melting temperature substrate. This demonstrator circuit was part of a larger proof-of-concept project to show the ability to embed sensors in a structure where the sensors are inactive until the sensors are interrogated using remote telemetry for powering and communicating with the sensor to intermittently measure changes in the response of the sensor. Figure 7: Aerosol printed full-bridge strain gauge circuit on low temperature 3D printed thermoplastic substrate VI. CONCLUSION Advances in additive manufacturing are literally affecting the shape, size and even purpose of new products yet to be created by consumer and industrial companies. This paper presents a novel fabrication of sensors and circuits on a variety surfaces by using Electroninks particle-free metal inks along with the next generation of NanoJet provided by IDS system. The combination of Electroninks particle-free inks and IDS NanoJet provides a higher output, better printing quality, and lower cost to fabricate electronics compared with other traditional digital printing technologies. Electroninks Ag and Au inks can be processed at room temperature which are excellent candidates for printing on complex surfaces. Electroninks Ag ink provides 5-7 uohm-cm resistivity while Au can provide 6 uohm-cm resistivity, low resistivity requires fewer printing passes and saves time and efforts compared with other inks in the market. Pilot testing has shown the IDS’s next generation aerosol jetting technology using Electroninks particle-free inks can print feature size range from 20μm wide by 2μm tall to mm wide by 20μm tall on even conformal surfaces, the printed features showed improved edge quality with less satellites spots and overspray. AUTHORS Yuan Gu, senior scientist, Electroninks Ayan Maity, senior scientist, Electroninks Steven Brett Walker, CEO, Electroninks Dr. Marcelino Essien, president, IDS Dr. Yun Li, IDS Jacob Chavez, IDS David Keicher, vice president, IDS COMMUNICATION AUTHOR: Melbs LeMieux, president, Electroninks

Company: Networking Break - Meet Speakers | Date: 9-10 Feb 2022 | Full Presentation Join TechBlick on an annual pass to join all live online conference or online version of onsite conference access library of on-demand talks (600 talks + PDFs) portfolio of expert led masterclass year-round platform https://www.techblick.com/ Our next battery-related event will take place on 15-16 FEB 2023, covering 1) Solid-State Batteries: Innovations, Promising Start-Ups, & Future Roadmap 2) Battery Materials: Next-Generation & Beyond Lithium Ion The speakers include: General Motors, Graphenix Development, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Fraunhofer IKTS, RWTH Aachen University, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, Meta Materials Inc, Skeleton Technologies, Solid State Battery Inc, Argonne National Laboratories, OneD Battery Sciences, VTT, Leyden Jar Technologies B.V., b-Science, Rho Motion, Wevo-Chemie, LiNA Energy, CNM Technologies, Ionblox, Empa, Zinc8 Energy Solutions, Avicenne Energy, Echiontech, South8 Technologies, Basquevolt, NanoXplore, Chasm, Li Metal, Sila Nanotechnologies, Quantumscape (tentative), Fraunhofer ISI, etc https://www.techblick.com/

Wearable devices could soon be entirely made of recycled waste materials – and powered by human movement, thanks to a new energy-harvesting device developed at the University of Surrey. The research was published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. Scientists have unveiled a wrist device made from discarded paper wipes and plastic cups that runs on energy harvested by the wearer's movements. The prototype device can transmit Morse code, and the team is now focusing on plans to use this technology in smartwatches. Dr. Bhaskar Dudem, project lead and Research Fellow at the University of Surrey's Advanced Technology Institute (ATI), said: "It won't be long until we have to ask ourselves which of the items we own are not connected to the internet. However, the current internet-of-things (IoT) revolution highlights the simple fact that our planet doesn't have the raw resources to continue to make these devices which are in such high demand. "Our research demonstrates that there is a path to creating sustainable technology that runs on electricity powered by us, the users of that technology." Surrey's device is 'self-powered' thanks to materials that become electrically charged after they come into contact with one another. These materials (also known as Triboelectric Nanogenerators (TENGs)) use static charge to harvest energy from movement through a process called electrostatic induction. The developers believe their energy-harvesting wearable device could be a future game-changer for the consumer, medical and security sectors. Professor Ravi Silva, Director of ATI at the University of Surrey, said: "The core mission of the Advanced Technology Institute is to help build a world where clean energy is available to all. Our energy-harvesting technology embodies this key mission, and we stand ready to work with industry to ensure this technology reaches its full potential." For more information, visit: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/news/surrey-unveils-energy-harvesting-wearable-device-made-recycled-waste

Speaker: Eric Forsythe | Company: U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command| Date: 11-12 May 2021 | Full Presentation Bio Eric W. Forsythe, Ph.D is the Team Leader for Flexible Electronics at the US Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD. His responsibilities include; the Program Manager for the Flexible Hybrid Electronics Manufacturing Innovation Institute. Recently, Dr Forsythe was the Deputy Program Manager for the U.S. Army’s Flexible Display Center that demonstrated the World’s Largest flexible organic ligtht emitting diode displays and most recently the World’s Largest flexible digital x-ray imagers for DOD Explosive Ordnance Disposal. Additional responsibilities include the co-PI with the human performancde team for the ARL initiaitive “Continuous, Real-Time Assessment of Soldiers:The Foundation for Future Individualized and Adaptive Technologies” and the ARL Directors Initiative entitle “Ultrafast Electron Spectrocopy” for unique materials science exploration. Prior to joining ARL in 2001, Dr Forsythe was a Research Associate at the University of Rochester where he worked on electronic interfaces in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) with Eastman Kodak, the inventors of the commercial OLED display technology. In 1996, Dr Forsythe received his Ph.D in Engineering Physics at Stevens Institute of Technology. He has spent time working at small businesses on SBIR-projects in wide range of technologies and at Kearfott Guidance and Navigation on the Trident Missile stellar inertial guidance system, in the mid-1980’s. Dr Forsythe has more than 60 publications (2000 citations, H-index 19), and 5 patents filed or issued. Join TechBlick on an annual pass to join all live online conference or online version of onsite conference access library of on-demand talks (600 talks + PDFs) portfolio of expert led masterclass year-round platform https://www.techblick.com/ And do NOT miss our flagship event in Berlin on 17-18 OCT 2023 focused on Reshaping the Future of Electronics. This event attracts 550-600 participants from all the world and offers a superb ambience and dynamic exhibition floor. To learn more visit https://www.techblick.com/electronicsreshaped To see feedback about previous event see https://www.techblick.com/events-agenda

Agenda | 9-10 March 2022 TechBlick is delighted to announce the world-class agenda for its 2-day conference and exhibition on Printed, Hybrid, InMold, and 3D Electronics. This 2-day event will take place LIVE (online) on 9-10 March 2022 in our very engaging and interactive 'in-person virtual' space, making virtual interaction real and bringing together leading OEMs, manufacturers, material suppliers, and innovators. Themes include: Printed | Flexible | Additive | Hybrid | 3D | Structural | R2R | InMold | Textiles | Stretchable | Conformal | Wearable | Package Level Electronics | Conductive, Dielectric and Adhesives Inks | LIFT | Inkjet | Advanced Screen Print | Electrohydrodynamic | Aerosol | Nanoimprint | HMI | Smart Skin Patches | Perovskite and Organic Photovoltaics| Flexible Substrates and Barriers | Printed Sensors and Actuators | Printed Displays | Low Temperature Attachment | Heat- and Photo-sintering Leading Global Speakers Include The world-class speaker line-up brings together end-users and OEMs, manufacturers, as well as innovative start-ups from around the world. See the latest agenda here Furthermore, a LIVE exhibition will take place in parallel to the conference tracks, enabling you to meet the exhibitors live, network with other participants, and connect with OEMs and end-users. This will be truly a global gathering, bringing the entire printed, hybrid, in-mould, and 3D electronics community together. Click here to see how our buzzing virtual exhibition space works. Exhibiting companies will include all the key players in the field including Kodak, Panasonic, NovaCentrix, Optomec, VTT, Nippon Kayaku, Quad Industries, Holst Centre, Agfa, Applied Materials, Asada Mesh, Brilliant Matters, DuPont, DuPont Teijin Films, Eastprint, CPI, Henkel, Hamamatsu, E2IP, Elantis, Sun Chemical, Seriestampa, Kimoto, IDS, NanoDimension, Keiron, Karl Mayer, IDS, Evonik, Copprint, and many others. See full list of TechBlick exhibitors herehttps://www.techblick.com/exhibitors Buy yourAnnual Pass (virtual) now to join more than 1200 TechBlick members. With your Annual Pass (virtual) you can participate in all TechBlick (online) events, join all networking sessions, watch all industry-led masterclasses, and catch up with content from all our previous presentations across a range of exciting emerging technology fields. You will also get 50% discount on access to our in-person physical event in the Netherlands on 12-13 October 2022, covering the themes of Future of Electronics RESHAPED Here is some feedback from our previous participants Siemens Healthcare: Many thanks for inviting me to give a presentation at your amazing event! It was really a good experience! I enjoyed the platform a lot and how it is designed Roche Diabetes Care Inc: Very good. Your virtual conference platform is top notch! Panasonic Electronic Materials: Excellent speakers presenting compelling content combined with terrific networking opportunities Swarovski: The TechBlick event on Printed Electronics has been a true success. One of the best virtual events - that I have ever attended. Great talks and networking opportunities LG Electronics: The on-line networking/exhibition session was very similar to off-line networking/exhibition. Eastprint: Great work and the networking is awesome Kundisch GmbH: Techblick is the only online event in the field of printed and hybrid electronics which gives the feeling of real live events so far. E2ip: I loved the Techblick online experience. It was really immersive and compared to other digital events it had a real trade show feel Innovation Lab: Great platform, great speakers, great conversations. Lamar Advertising: The conference was very intriguing and I look forward to the next month! JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corporation: The networking session last week was very interesting! The virtual venue made me feel like having real conversation, it accelerated interactive communication with people. I really hope to join again next time Nano OPS, Inc: One of the best virtual exhibit platforms I have seen so far. Evonik: TechBlick makes virtual interaction real IMEC: The networking lounge functionality is fantastic! For me, the best I've seen so far in virtual events, the closest you can get to a real feeling