Sorting and Assembly of Nanomaterials on Polymer Substrates Using Fluidic and Weak Ultrasound Fields for Fabrication of Flexible Electronic Devices

这项拨款支持在柔性电子产品制造中产生新知识的研究，促进国家繁荣、健康和安全。柔性电子是一种在柔性聚合物基板上构建电路和器件的制造技术。柔性设备在健康监测、药物输送、能量储存和个人娱乐方面都有应用，并有可能重塑人类的生活方式。纳米材料以其优异的性能和小尺寸在柔性电子制造中得到了广泛的应用。然而，纳米材料固有的尺寸变化对可重复和可靠的器件制造提出了重大挑战。传统上，需要一个单独的纳米材料分选过程，这不仅成本高昂，而且还减慢了制造过程。该奖项支持基础研究，为高效分选组装制造工艺的发展提供知识，该工艺可选择性地将相似尺寸的纳米材料组装成柔性电子和其他设备的纳米结构。重要的是，利用具有大尺寸变化的低成本原始纳米材料制成高质量器件结构的独特特征可以导致制造价格合理的柔性电子器件。这项研究整合了纳米制造、材料科学和流体力学。所获得的知识被应用于代表性不足的STEM学生的教育以及本科和研究生制造课程的发展，从而教育和培训未来先进制造业的劳动力。本研究将一种新型的流体控制机制与弱声辅助装配工艺相结合，实现了零、一维和二维纳米材料的装配，并精确控制了颗粒大小和装配速率。微流体装置通常用于细胞生物力学研究，在纳米制造过程中得到了应用。通常应用于药物传递研究的输运模型被用于研究流体辅助系统中纳米颗粒的输运、沉积和组装。本研究揭示了流体场和弱声场之间的相互作用和协同作用，以及它们对分选和组装过程的影响。这是通过纳米颗粒迁移和沉积的理论建模和数值模拟与实验验证相结合来完成的。这种独特的方法可以改变广泛的纳米材料组装系统，包括陶瓷，金属和有机纳米颗粒。这项研究推进了纳米材料组装的知识，促进了纳米制造领域的发展，提供了更多的材料和功能选择，更好的器件可重复性，显著提高了制造效率和可负担的柔性电子产品。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This grant supports research that generates new knowledge in the manufacturing of flexible electronics, promoting national prosperity, health, and safety. Flexible electronics represents a manufacturing technology that builds circuits and devices on flexible polymer substrates. Flexible devices have applications in health monitoring, drug delivery, energy storage and personal entertainment, and has the potential to reshape human lifestyle. Nanomaterials have been enthusiastically embraced in flexible electronic manufacturing due to their outstanding functionalities and small size. However, the inherent size variation of nanomaterials presents a significant challenge for repeatable and reliable device manufacturing. Traditionally, a separate nanomaterial sorting process is required, which is not only costly but also slows down the manufacturing process. This award supports fundamental research to generate knowledge for the development of a highly efficient sorting-assembly manufacturing process that selectively assembles nanomaterials with similar sizes into nanostructures for flexible electronic and other devices. Importantly, the unique feature of utilizing low-cost raw nanomaterials with large size variations into high-quality device structures can lead to manufacturing of affordable flexible electronic devices. This research integrates nanomanufacturing, material science, and fluid mechanics. The knowledge gained is applied toward the education of underrepresented STEM students and the development of undergraduate and graduate manufacturing curricula, thus educating and training the future workforce in advanced manufacturing. This research combines a novel fluidic control mechanism with a weak sono-assisted assembly process that achieves assembly of nanomaterials, such as, zero-, one- and two-dimensional materials, with precisely controlled particle size and assembly rate. Microfluidic devices that are typically used in cellular biomechanics research are utilized in the nanomanufacturing process. Transport models that are typically applied in drug delivery research are utilized to study the transport, deposition and assembly of the nanoparticles in the fluidic-assisted systems. This research uncovers the interaction and synergy between the fluidic and weak sono fields and their influences on the sorting and assembly processes. This is done through the integration of the theoretical modeling and numerical simulation of nanoparticle transport and deposition with experimental validations. This unique approach can be transformative to a wide range of nanomaterial assembly systems including ceramic, metal, and organic nanoparticles. This research advances knowledge in nanomaterials assembly and promotes the field of nanomanufacturing, offering more choices of materials and functionalities, better device repeatability, significantly enhanced manufacturing efficiency and affordable flexible electronics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.