Rheological Characterization of Ink

Voltera Inc.销售一种名为V-One的创新印刷电路板原型系统，该系统将导电油墨印刷到各种基板上，以制造电子设备，而不是传统的光刻和化学蚀刻金属化基板的方法。这种添加剂制造方法还允许V-One分配其他流变学复杂材料，包括目前正在开发的用于印刷电子产品(PE)的各种新型材料。虽然这些材料使新的应用和具有高增长潜力的市场(可穿戴设备、印刷电池、结构电子产品等)成为可能，但寻求创造PE产品的公司在能够开始任何开发之前，必须冒着在大面积制造方法上的重大投资风险。Voltera V-One在这方面是独一无二的，通过与PE材料生产商合作为分配量身定做他们的流变学，从而实现低风险、低成本的PE原型-然而，这种配方过程目前成本高昂且效率低下，需要基于定性观察进行长时间的反复试验。这是因为目前还没有成熟的测试和表征方法，可以根据PE材料对正排量分配特性的影响来量化其流变性，这需要在加工条件下而不是在实验室范围内进行定性评估。这样的测试和表征方法对于VolteraInc.是必要的。全面支持日益多样化的PE材料，因为制造商继续在其生产和开发方面投入巨资。这项工作旨在开发这样一种测试方法，通过使用Guelph大学最先进的设备和专业知识来表征PE材料在正位移分配条件下的线性和非线性粘弹性特性。这些测试方法将使Voltera Inc.能够使用常用的流变仪在实验室规模预测PE材料的点胶行为，从而大大加快配方过程，并使加拿大和海外的公司广泛获得这些材料。

Voltera Inc. sells an innovative printed-circuit-board prototyping system called the V-One that printsconductive inks onto a variety of substrates to make electronic devices, as opposed to the traditional method ofphotolithography and chemical etching of a metallized substrate. This additive manufacturing approach alsoallows the V-One to dispense other rheologically complex materials, including the diverse set of novelmaterials currently in development for printed electronics (PE). While these materials enable new applicationsand markets with high potential for growth (wearable devices, printed batteries, structural electronics, etc.),companies seeking to create PE products must risk significant investment in large-area manufacturing methodsbefore they are able to begin any development. The Voltera V-One is uniquely positioned in this regard toenable low-risk, low-cost prototyping of PE by collaborating with PE materials producers to tailor theirrheology for dispensing - however, this formulation process is currently costly and inefficient, requiring lengthytrial-and-error experimentation based on qualitative observations. This is because there is currently noestablished test and characterization method which can quantify the rheological properties of PE materials interms of their effect on positive-displacement dispensing characteristics, requiring qualitative assessments inprocessing conditions, rather than at lab-scale. Such a test and characterization method is necessary for VolteraInc. to fully support increasingly diverse PE materials, as manufacturers continue to heavily invest in theirproduction and development. This work seeks to develop such a test method, by characterizing the linear andnonlinear viscoelastic properties of PE materials in conditions representative of positive-displacementdispensing using state-of-the art equipment and expertise at the University of Guelph. These test methods willallow Voltera Inc. to predict the dispensing behaviour of PE materials at lab scale with commonly availablerheometry equipment, thereby drastically accelerating the formulation process, and making these materialswidely accessible to companies in Canada and abroad.