Project

Back to overview

Fundamental thermofluidic and interfacial phenomena in "fountain pen" based micro/nano-writing and curing of nanopartilce inks

English title Fundamental thermofluidic and interfacial phenomena in "fountain pen" based micro/nano-writing and curing of nanopartilce inks
Applicant Poulikakos Dimos
Number 107450
Funding scheme Project funding
Research institution Institut für Energietechnik ETH Zürich
Institution of higher education ETH Zurich - ETHZ
Main discipline Fluid Dynamics
Start/End 01.05.2005 - 30.06.2008
Approved amount 247'460.00
Show all

Keywords (6)

FLUIDS; THERMAL PHENOMENA; INTERFACIAL PHENOMENA; WETTING; DEWETTING; NANOPARTILCES

Lay Summary (English)

Lead
Lay summary
In the experimental part of this project a setup for 'fountain pen' direct writing of nanoparticle inks on various substrates was devised. Gold structures down to around 1 micron can be produced on glass and polymer substrates. At the same time, we adapted the setup for polymer deposition, such that multilayered electronic structures can be written. Examples for this are passive electronic elements such as capacitors and inductors. Optical and scanning probe microscopy techniques allowed for characterization of the achieved gold structures.
We showed that water immersed writing of nanoink combined with preferential temperature driven transport of the solvent in the nanoparticle suspension can lead to dewetting of the nanoparticle ink film. Using these findings we were able to reduce the width of the nanoparticle film to half of the original width.
In both these achievements we addressed the basic problem of reducing the size of nanoparticle ink patterns. Traditional nanoink deposition methods are limited in this regard. The numerical part of the project deals with the theoretical modeling and numerical simulation of a host of the thermophysical aspects of the problem. These are the interactions at the liquid-liquid, solid-liquid and liquid-vapor interfaces affecting the wetting/dewetting behavior as well as thermocapillary effects due to temperature and concentration gradients and the diffusion of the nanoink solvent through the covering layer of liquid water, resulting in a size reduction of the nanoink droplet.
Direct link to Lay Summary Last update: 21.02.2013

Responsible applicant and co-applicants

Employees

Associated projects

Number Title Start Funding scheme
122169 Contactless microfluidics “on tracks”: A fundamental study of acoustic levitation allowing the controlled motion and mixing of droplets 01.10.2008 Project funding
125041 A Basic Investigation of Capillary Nanospraying and On-Demand Printing by Electrowetting for the Maskless Deposition of Colloids 01.09.2009 Project funding
128764 3D Laser Lithography System for Biofluidic Applications 01.12.2009 R'EQUIP
63580 Thermofluidic Phenomena in the Printing and Melting of Gold Nanoparticle Suspensions 01.07.2001 Project funding

-