Parametric investigation of flexographic printing processes for R2R printed electronics

Zhong, Zhang; Ee, Jin Hao; Chen, S. H.; Shan, Xuechuan

doi:10.1080/10426914.2020.1732411

Cited by 29 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 33 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Often patterns with excess ink occur due to compression between flexo plate and substrate which leads to poor image stability and resolution [ 148 ]. This method is widely used in the printed electronics industry using thin-film substrates [ 181 – 184 ]. Flexographic printing for the fabrication of the textile electrode is yet to be explored.…”

Section: Flexible Electrode Fabrication By Various Printing Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanomaterials-patterned flexible electrodes for wearable health monitoring: a review

Hasan

Hossain

2021

J Mater Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Electrodes fabricated on a flexible substrate are a revolutionary development in wearable health monitoring due to their lightweight, breathability, comfort, and flexibility to conform to the curvilinear body shape. Different metallic thin-film and plastic-based substrates lack comfort for long-term monitoring applications. However, the insulating nature of different polymer, fiber, and textile substrates requires the deposition of conductive materials to render interactive functionality to substrates. Besides, the high porosity and flexibility of fiber and textile substrates pose a great challenge for the homogenous deposition of active materials. Printing is an excellent process to produce a flexible conductive textile electrode for wearable health monitoring applications due to its low cost and scalability. This article critically reviews the current state of the art of different textile architectures as a substrate for the deposition of conductive nanomaterials. Furthermore, recent progress in various printing processes of nanomaterials, challenges of printing nanomaterials on textiles, and their health monitoring applications are described systematically. Graphical Abstract

show abstract

Section: Flexible Electrode Fabrication By Various Printing Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanomaterials-patterned flexible electrodes for wearable health monitoring: a review

Hasan

Hossain

2021

J Mater Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Because the printing roller is made of a flexible polymer wrapped around a metal cylinder, the prototyping and startup costs are significantly lower in flexography than gravure printing. However, plate deformation is a significant limitation to be overcome in high-resolution flexographic printing [ 41 ]. Another key difference between gravure printing and flexography is the presence of an anilox roll, which allows for a wider range of ink rheology to be printed, but whose geometry, pressure, and speed must be carefully optimized [ 41 ].…”

Section: Printing Fundamentalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, plate deformation is a significant limitation to be overcome in high-resolution flexographic printing [ 41 ]. Another key difference between gravure printing and flexography is the presence of an anilox roll, which allows for a wider range of ink rheology to be printed, but whose geometry, pressure, and speed must be carefully optimized [ 41 ]. These challenges exist in addition to those faced by gravure printing, which is one explanation for the greater adoption of gravure for printed electronics.…”

Section: Printing Fundamentalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, recent works have significantly improved flexographic printing capabilities, making flexography an exciting and fast-developing approach with a significantly lower barrier to entry than gravure printing. For instance, the surface energy of the flexography roll relative to the anilox and substrate can be modified to improve ink transfer in each phase, the print speed and pressure can be optimized for the specific transfer chemistry and pattern geometries, and the geometries themselves can be improved [ 41 , 58 , 59 ]. However, these innovations still result in resolutions >50 µm because of fundamental material limitations in the photopolymer flexographic roll.…”

Section: Printing Fundamentalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Recent Advances in High-Throughput Nanomaterial Manufacturing for Hybrid Flexible Bioelectronics

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Hybrid flexible bioelectronic systems refer to integrated soft biosensing platforms with tremendous clinical impact. In this new paradigm, electrical systems can stretch and deform with the skin while previously hidden physiological signals can be continuously recorded. However, hybrid flexible bioelectronics will not receive wide clinical adoption until these systems can be manufactured at industrial scales cost-effectively. Therefore, new manufacturing approaches must be discovered and studied under the same innovative spirit that led to the adoption of novel materials and soft structures. Recent works have taken mature manufacturing approaches from the graphics industry, such as gravure, flexography, screen, and inkjet printing, and applied them to fully printed bioelectronics. These applications require the cohesive study of many disparate parts. For instance, nanomaterials with optimal properties for each specific application must be dispersed in printable inks with rheology suited to each printing method. This review summarizes recent advances in printing technologies, key nanomaterials, and applications of the manufactured hybrid bioelectronics. We also discuss the existing challenges of the available nanomanufacturing methods and the areas that need immediate technological improvements.

show abstract

“…Printing of electronics is an alternative approach to the conventional electronics manufacturing of silicon devices. Printed electronics [6] is achieved through the application of functional inks onto flexible substrates through the use of printing technologies. Typical products of printed electronics include thin film transistors, solar cells and radio frequency identification tags.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of Roll-to-Roll Gravure Printing for Printed Electronics with Fine Features

Chen¹,

Pua²,

Zhong³

et al. 2020

J. Mater. Appl.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Gravure printing is known to be cost competitive in manufacturing of printed electronic devices due to its capability to mass produce at lower costs. Current standard of gravure printed feature sizes is in a range of around 50 μm down to sub-10 μm, predominantly through small scale setups and specialized engraving. However, reliance on gravure cell design limits the scalability of printing over a large area due to the setup cost. In this study, ink viscoelastic behavior was modified to improve replication of gravure printed features over a large printing area of 300 mm web-width without a reduction in gravure cell dimension. Fine lines were printed using a high viscosity ink with a good replication of the nominal line width. Control over the printed features was performed through the variation of printing speed and the alteration of ink viscosity. The effects of ink viscosity and printing speed on the printed ink particle distribution and size were also examined. New methodologies of characterizing ink transfer were also developed to help understand the ink transfer processes: mass transfer and particle transfer. A deeper understanding of the thixotropic effect and shear recovery behavior of inks was achieved through simulations of shearing conditions.

show abstract

Parametric investigation of flexographic printing processes for R2R printed electronics

Cited by 29 publications

References 33 publications

Nanomaterials-patterned flexible electrodes for wearable health monitoring: a review

Nanomaterials-patterned flexible electrodes for wearable health monitoring: a review

Recent Advances in High-Throughput Nanomaterial Manufacturing for Hybrid Flexible Bioelectronics

Investigation of Roll-to-Roll Gravure Printing for Printed Electronics with Fine Features

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About