Self-Driven, Monopolar Electrohydrodynamic Printing via Dielectric Nanoparticle Layer

Abstract

Electrohydrodynamic printing holds both ultrahighresolution fabrication capability and unmatched ink-viscosity compatibility yet fails on highly insulating thick/irregular substrates. Herein, we proposed a single-potential driven electrohydrodynamic printing process with submicrometer resolution on arbitrary nonconductive targets, regardless of their geometric shape or sizes, via precoating with an ultrathin dielectric nanoparticle layer. Benefiting from the favorable Maxwell−Wagner polarization, the reversely polarized spot brought about a significant drop (∼57% for ceramics) in the operation voltage as its induced electric field and a negligible residual charge accumulation. Thus, ordered micro/nanostructures with line widths down to 300 nm were directly written at a stage speed as low as 5 mm/s, and silver features with width of ∼2 μm or interval of ∼4 μm were achieved on insulating substrates separately. Flexible sensors and curved heaters were then high-precision printed and demonstrated successfully, presenting this technique with huge potential for fabricating flexible/conformal electronics on arbitrary 3D structures.