Developing flexible 3D printed antenna using conductive ABS materials

Abstract

The push to advance efficient, renewable, and clean energy sources has brought with it an effort to generate materials that are capable of storing hydrogen. Metal-organic framework materials (MOFs) have been the focus of many such studies as they are categorized for their large internal surface areas. We have addressed one of the major shortcomings of MOFs (their processibility) by creating and 3D printing a composite of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and MOF-5, a prototypical MOF, which is often used to benchmark H 2 uptake capacity of other MOFs. The ABS-MOF-5 composites can be printed at MOF-5 compositions of 10% and below. Other physical and mechanical properties of the polymer (glass transition temperature, stress and strain at the breaking point, and Young's modulus) either remain unchanged or show some degree of hardening due to the interaction between the polymer and the MOF. We do observe some MOF-5 degradation through the blending process, likely due to the ambient humidity through the purification and solvent casting steps. Even with this degradation, the MOF still retains some of its ability to uptake H 2 , seen in the ability of the composite to uptake more H 2 than the pure polymer. The experiments and results described here represent a significant first step toward 3D printing MOF-5-based materials for H 2 storage. 3

Design and realization of multilayered cylindrical dielectric lens antenna using 3D printing technology

“…Recently, 3D printing technology has been extensively used for prototyping of dielectric substrates, different type of microwave antennas for both civilian and military applications, since it has many advantages compared with the traditional fabrication methods such as being easier to prototype complicated designs in terms of low cost and low weight. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] The paper is organized as follows: Design and simulation of the MLCDLA is explained in CST 3D EM simulation environment using waveguide as the feeding unit in the next section. Measurement results of 3D-printed MLCDLA is given in Section 3, and finally the work ends with the conclusion at Section 4.…”

Design, fabrication, and testing of a helical antenna using 3D printing technology

“…Researches have shown the feasibility of 3D printing on wire structure antennas such as electrically small spherical antenna or helical antenna . However, dielectric supporting structures are usually needed to suspend the wire, which degrades the antenna performance.…”

“…Another challenge in 3D printed RF components is the metallization of 3D structures. Copper paint has been used for metallization but the low conductivity of the paint will introduce significant dissipative loss . To improve the conductivity, nanoparticles can be introduced in inkjet printing of 3D structures .…”

“…However, the silver ink used is expensive while the conductivity is not enhanced significantly. Conductive ABS material is also used in the fabrication of flexible antennas but they suffer from low efficiency due to their low conductivity . In Reference , 3D printed waveguides and filters are metallized with plating process on plastic, therefore, highly conductive surfaces are achieved.…”

“…5 To improve the conductivity, nanoparticles can be introduced in inkjet printing of 3D structures. 5 However, the silver ink used is expensive while the conductivity is not enhanced significantly. Conductive ABS material is also used in the fabrication of flexible antennas but they suffer from low efficiency due to their low conductivity.…”