Neil Chilton | Printed Electronics Limited: Why is treating viscosity as a static number the ultimate recipe for printed electronics failure?
00:08:50.524 - 00:10:44.724
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Summary of the clip:
How do we reconcile the spatial precision of digital deposition with the high-viscosity demands of functional electronic materials?
While inkjet printing offers unparalleled digital precision by depositing material exactly where required, it struggles to compete with screen printing for thick-layer applications. Achieving structural thickness via inkjet requires highly repetitive, alternating print-and-cure cycles. This scanning approach inherently limits throughput compared to traditional screen processes, forcing a trade-off between digital agility and deposition volume.
Furthermore, inkjet deposition is highly sensitive to complex fluid dynamics and substrate thermodynamics. The behavior of low-viscosity inkjet droplets is governed by surface tension, surface energy interactions, and Marangoni effects during the drying phase. These phenomena frequently cause severe pattern distortion, demanding extensive process optimization and narrowing the viable formulation window for functional inks.
To bypass these fluidic limitations while retaining digital control, developers are turning to contact dispensing and direct-write technologies. By utilizing pressure-time-based systems on XY motion platforms, these methods successfully deposit high-viscosity, highly loaded functional fluids like silver inks and dielectrics. However, this transition to contact-based printing introduces a critical mechanical challenge: the system must precisely and continuously map the exact position of the substrate surface.
In this short video, you can learn:
* Why the iterative print-and-cure cycle of inkjet scanning systems limits their ability to compete with high-volume screen printing.
* How surface energy, substrate interactions, and Marangoni drying effects cause pattern distortion in low-viscosity inkjet processes.
* How direct-write contact dispensing solves the high-viscosity material challenge, and the critical role of surface-tracking calibration.
π **Clip Abstract** The speaker compares the advantages and physical limitations of inkjet printing against screen printing, highlighting how surface energy and Marangoni effects complicate low-viscosity deposition. He then introduces direct-write contact dispensing as a robust alternative for high-viscosity functional materials, noting the critical requirement of surface detection.
π€ Speaker: Neil Chilton
π’ Company: Printed Electronics Limited
π
Event: Future of Electronics RESHAPED USA 2026
π Location: Computer History Museum, Mountain View, California, USA
π Learn more at the next TechBlick event: https://www.techblick.com
#InkRheology, #ShearThinning, #ThixotropicRecovery, #FunctionalInks, #PrintedElectronics, #AdditiveElectronics
This is a highlight of the presentation:
Printing with High Viscosity Fluids
Future of Electronics RESHAPED USA 2026
10-11 June 2026
Computer History Museum, Mountain View, California, USA
Organised By:
TechBlick
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00:09:23 - 00:10:54
How does Electro Hydrodynamic Jetting defy conventional fluid dynamics to print 3D structures mid-air?
How does Electro Hydrodynamic Jetting defy conventional fluid dynamics to print 3D structures mid-air?
Traditional inkjet deposition faces limitations in droplet size and solvent evaporation control, often restricted by the physical properties of piezo or thermal printheads. Superfine inkjet (SIJ) technology bypasses these boundaries by utilizing electro hydrodynamics (EHD) to trigger droplet ejection, resulting in dramatically smaller droplet sizes and accelerated emission rates compared to conventional processes.
The true magic of EHD jetting lies in the physical behavior of sub-micron and low-picoliter droplets. Because the droplet size is so small, the surface-area-to-volume ratio increases exponentially, making the droplet mostly surface; this allows the solvent to evaporate rapidly during flight, even when using high-boiling-point solvents such as those rated up to 254 degrees Celsius.
This rapid in-flight drying mechanism alters how the material behaves upon hitting the substrate. Instead of forming a spreading liquid pool that requires post-cure stabilization, the partially dried nanomaterial stacks predictably, enabling the high-precision printing of 2.5D and fully 3D microscopic features such as vertical pillars and fine conductive lines.
In this short video, you can learn:
* The core mechanics of Electro Hydrodynamic (EHD) jetting versus piezo and thermal printheads.
* How high surface-area-to-volume ratios in micro-droplets enable rapid in-flight solvent evaporation.
* Techniques for utilizing pre-dried droplets to construct micro-scale 2.5D and 3D structures.
π **Clip Abstract** This clip explains the physics behind Superfine Inkjet (SIJ) technology and its use of electro hydrodynamics to achieve sub-picoliter droplet volumes. It highlights how rapid in-flight solvent evaporation allows developers to print complex 3D microstructures directly onto non-absorbent substrates.
#ElectrohydrodynamicJetting, #SuperfineInkjet, #InFlightEvaporation, #Micro3DPrinting, #PrintedElectronics, #MicroLEDManufacturing
00:04:40 - 00:06:10
Why does low-tech screen printing remain the high-yield king of industrial printed electronics over digital inkjet?
Why does low-tech screen printing remain the high-yield king of industrial printed electronics over digital inkjet?
In the printed electronics landscape, choosing the correct deposition method requires balancing throughput, substrate compatibility, and material viscosity. While digital methods like inkjet receive significant attention, industrial production lines still heavily rely on traditional screen printing as their primary daily workhorse.
Screen printing excels in mass production because it accommodates high-viscosity pastes with highly predictable, well-characterized substrate interactions. This allows manufacturers to control wet-out behaviors and construct high-value, highly complex non-consumer components without the wetting and pooling risks associated with low-viscosity inkjets.
Even as technology pushes toward sub-micron features, modern screen printing systems can reliably deliver features down to 30 microns, with 200 microns being highly repeatable in daily production. It remains the most commercially viable starting point for high-reliability medical, sensor, and industrial electronic components.
In this short video, you can learn:
* The strategic criteria for selecting screen printing over flexographic, gravure, or digital inkjet methods.
* How utilizing high-viscosity pastes stabilizes substrate interactions to prevent trace deformation.
* The resolution limits of modern production-scale screen printing for complex, high-value components.
π **Clip Abstract** This clip analyzes why screen printing remains the dominant manufacturing method in commercial printed electronics despite the rise of digital alternatives. It discusses the critical relationship between ink viscosity, substrate interaction, and long-term production reliability.
#IndustrialScreenPrinting, #HighViscosityPastes, #SubstrateWetting, #FineLinePrinting, #PrintedElectronics, #FlexibleElectronics
00:14:14 - 00:16:15
Can Electro Hydrodynamic printing scale up from single-nozzle R&D to high-throughput Quantum Dot display manufacturing?
Can Electro Hydrodynamic printing scale up from single-nozzle R&D to high-throughput Quantum Dot display manufacturing?
While electro hydrodynamic jetting is highly effective for micro-scale printing, transitioning the process from single-nozzle academic systems to industrial production has historically been a significant bottleneck. Addressing this scale-up challenge requires moving beyond single or dual nozzle arrays into massively parallel architectures designed for industrial high-volume applications.
The development of a multi-nozzle EHD head represents a major leap forward for display manufacturing, particularly in high-precision quantum dot patterning for color conversion layers. By integrating hundreds or potentially thousands of parallel nozzles, the system can rapidly deposit sub-20 micron droplets across a precise grid array in a single pass.
Operating with a stable pitch, such as 168 microns, this multi-nozzle configuration offers positioning accuracy and drop size control that conventional inkjet printing cannot replicate. This advancement bridges the gap between ultra-fine digital deposition and high-throughput semiconductor or display packaging lines.
In this short video, you can learn:
* The engineering hurdles of scaling up electro hydrodynamic jetting from R&D to mass production.
* How multi-nozzle arrays achieve high-throughput quantum dot patterning for advanced display color conversion.
* The spatial and volumetric advantages of EHD multi-nozzle systems over traditional industrial inkjet heads.
π **Clip Abstract** This clip details the industrial scale-up of Superfine Inkjet (SIJ) technology using advanced multi-nozzle printing heads. It focuses on the strategic deployment of these multi-nozzle arrays for high-speed quantum dot patterning in display manufacturing.
#ElectrohydrodynamicPrinting, #MultiNozzleArrays, #QuantumDotPatterning, #SuperfineInkjet, #PrintedElectronics, #MicroLEDDisplays