I-Corps: Non-gravity and Anti-gravity Electrohydrodynamic Inkjet Printing of Electronics

I-Corps项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是开发用于太空制造和反重力3D打印的便携式电流体动力（EHD）喷墨打印机。提出的EHD技术使3D打印能够在无重力或微重力环境下利用电力驱动液体墨水流动。提出的3D打印机旨在制作高分辨率的图案，具有高灵活性，以适应基材和不同的平台和生产线，以及高度定制的结构设计。此外，所提出的技术可能支持微/纳米级增材制造从基础研究迁移到地球上的大规模生产。EHD打印系统可以修改为柔性电子和光学制造应用，例如柔性传感器和可穿戴设备。预计研究成果将超越空间制造，进入微纳米制造、质量保证、生物医学科学、网络物理系统、传感器设计与制造等领域。这个I-Corps项目是基于电流体动力（EHD）技术的发展，用于增材制造（AM）工艺。提出的EDH打印技术是一种微/纳米制造技术，利用电场和液体射流之间的相互作用将小滴墨水沉积到基材上。这是一项独特的技术，可以在无重力环境下工作，因为电磁力是物质流动和沉积的主要驱动力。这使得该技术成为未来太空制造和反重力印刷应用的良好匹配。所提出的工艺和硬件设计旨在确保在振动、加速度和重力变化等极端条件下可靠的打印性能。此外，作为NASA资助的一系列试验的一部分，这项技术已在微重力下的飞行试验中得到验证。这些探索可能会带来新的创新，包括现场AM，电子维修，流体动力学研究以及空间或近地轨道AM。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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a portable electrohydrodynamic (EHD) inkjet printer for in-space manufacturing and anti-gravity 3D printing. The proposed EHD technology enables 3D printing using electrical forces to drive liquid-ink flow under a non-gravity or microgravity environment. The proposed 3D printer is aimed at making high-resolution patterns with high flexibility to adapt substrates and different platforms and production lines, and a high degree of customization of structural designs. In addition, the proposed technology may support micro-/nano-scale additive manufacturing to migrate from fundamental studies to large-scale production on Earth. The EHD printing system may be modified for flexible electronics and optics fabrication applications, such as flexible sensors and wearable devices. It is envisioned that the research outcomes may go beyond in-space manufacturing to other fields of micro/nano manufacturing, quality assurance, biomedical science, cyber-physical systems, and sensor design and fabrication.This I-Corps project is based on the development of electrohydrodynamic (EHD) technology to be used in additive manufacturing (AM) processes. The proposed EDH printing technology is a micro/nanomanufacturing technique that utilizes the interaction between an electric field and a liquid jet to deposit small droplets of ink onto a substrate. It is a unique technology that can work in non-gravity environments because electrical force is the main driving force for material flow and deposition. This makes the technology a good match for future in-space manufacturing and anti-gravity printing applications. The proposed process and hardware have been designed to ensure reliable printing performance under extreme conditions such as vibrations, accelerations, and gravitational changes. In addition, this technology has been validated through in-flight tests under microgravity as a part of a series of tests funded by NASA. These explorations may enable new innovations, including on-site AM, electronics repair, hydrodynamics studies, and AM in space or at low earth orbit.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.