CAREER: Additive Manufacturing using Electrospray Printing of Nanoparticle Inks

该学院早期职业发展（Career）奖将为打印纳米颗粒薄膜提供一种新的增材制造方法。在增材制造中，复杂形状的物体是通过一层一层的沉积材料来构建的。这种方法彻底改变了大型三维原型的创造。然而，使用这种技术在精细的长度尺度上打印有序的层还不可行。精确控制薄膜内纳米颗粒的位置和方向（即微观结构）的能力是必不可少的，因为这决定了薄膜的电学、机械和光学特性。用于能源生产、医疗保健和安全的下一代高性能设备将需要提供精细特性控制的高通量制造方法。该奖项支持电喷涂印刷的基础研究，该工艺有可能在保持大批量生产的同时提供对薄膜结构的精确控制。利用这种技术，电场被用来控制纳米粒子溶液的薄功能层的产生。这项研究将通过在印刷功能纳米材料领域创造高科技工作岗位，加速美国制造业的创新。此外，这一努力将通过参与跨学科研究和国际合作，培养和激励不同水平和背景的增材制造学生。建立电喷涂打印功能材料薄膜的加工-结构-性能关系，将使该工艺成为一种可行的制造方法。主要发现包括确定电喷雾传递的过量纳米粒子电荷如何控制印刷镀层的结构。这一新知识将有助于创造一种新的印刷技术，结合基材级库仑干预来控制微观结构的规模，这是尚未实现的。库仑干涉使用在目标基板附近产生的边缘场来精确地引导和定位电喷雾发射的带电粒子。实验研究和模拟将用于建立一个全面的框架电喷涂印刷。概率模型将为电喷涂印刷沉积的演变提供关键的见解，这是很难通过实验获得的。该模型最终将用于设计打印沉积层的结构，以实现目标功能。本文还将探讨基片拓扑结构和材料性能对薄膜结构的影响，以促进电喷涂印刷的多功能性。

This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award will enable a novel additive manufacturing methodology for printing thin-films of nanoparticles. In additive manufacturing, objects with complex shapes are built up by depositing materials layer-by-layer. This approach has revolutionized the creation of large three-dimensional prototypes. However, it is not yet feasible to use this technology to print well-ordered layers at fine length scales. The ability to precisely control the position and orientation of the nanoparticles (i.e. the microstructure) within a thin-film is essential since this governs the electrical, mechanical, and optical properties of the film. The next-generation of high-performance devices for use in energy production, health care, and security will require a high-throughput manufacturing methodology that provides fine feature control. This award supports fundamental research on electrospray printing, a process that has the potential to offer precise control over thin-film structure while maintaining high-volume production. With this technique, electric fields are used to control the production of thin functional layers from nanoparticle solutions. This research will contribute to the acceleration of manufacturing innovation in the United States by enabling the creation of high technology jobs in the area of printed functional nanomaterials. Additionally, this effort will train and motivate students of varied levels and backgrounds in additive manufacturing through their engagement in interdisciplinary research and international partnerships.Establishing the processing-structure-property relationships for thin-films of functional materials produced by electrospray printing will enable the process to become a viable manufacturing method. Key findings include identifying how the excess nanoparticle electric charge imparted by electrospray governs the structure of a printed deposit. This new knowledge will facilitate the creation of a novel printing technique incorporating substrate-level Coulombic intervention to control the microstructure at a scale that is yet to be achieved. Coulombic intervention uses a fringing field created in the vicinity of a target substrate to accurately steer and position the charged particles emitted by electrospray. Experimental studies and simulations will be used to establish a comprehensive framework for electrospray printing. Probabilistic modeling will provide critical insight into the evolution of an electrospray printed deposit that is difficult to obtain experimentally. This model will ultimately be used to design the structure of printed deposits for targeted functionality. The influence of substrate topology and material properties on film structure will also be elucidated to advance the versatility of electrospray printing.