AVS 66th International Symposium & Exhibition
    Advanced Surface Engineering Division Wednesday Sessions
       Session SE+AS+TF-WeA

Paper SE+AS+TF-WeA10
Use of an Einzel Lens to Enhance Electrohydrodynamic Printing Technology

Wednesday, October 23, 2019, 5:20 pm, Room A215

Session: Nanostructured Thin Films and Coatings
Presenter: Matthew Strohmayer, SUNY Polytechnic Institute
Authors: M. Strohmayer, SUNY Polytechnic Institute
A. Dhall, SUNY Polytechnic Institute
P. Ramesh, SUNY Polytechnic Institute
N. Tokranova, SUNY Polytechnic Institute
C.A. Ventrice, Jr., SUNY Polytechnic Institute
Correspondent: Click to Email
Additive manufacturing (AM) shows great promise for both research and industrial applications. The main advantages of AM include limited waste and the ability to build complicated structures. The most common techniques for AM are fused deposition manufacturing, digital light printing, and ink jetting. All of these techniques suffer from resolution and material limitations. Recently, a cost-effective, versatile method of high-resolution printing called electrohydrodynamic (EHD) printing has been introduced. This method allows for spatial resolution in the hundreds of nanometers. This process works similarly to a typical ink jetting system, except instead of the ink/polymer being pushed out of a tip, it is pulled out by an applied electric field. This allows for the resultant droplet to be smaller than the needle diameter. Electrostatic repulsion of the charged droplets limits the ultimate resolution of this technique. To overcome this resolution limitation, we have incorporated an Einzel lens into the system to focus the droplets. This helps the droplets overcome the repulsive Coulomb interaction, leading to better spatial resolution. To validate this approach, simulations were performed to test for different parameters, including droplet size changes and lens optimization. This was then used to build a real system.