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Monolithic integration of iontronic devices is a key challenge for future miniaturization and system integration. The G-Cap, a novel iontronic element, is a switchable supercapacitor with gating characteristics comparable to transistors in electronic circuits, but switching relies on ionic currents and ion electroadsorption. The first monolithic in-plane G-Cap integration through 3D-inkjet printing of nanoporous carbon precursors is reported. The printed G-Cap has a three-electrode architecture integrating a symmetric “working” supercapacitor (W-Cap) and a third “gate” electrode (G-electrode) that reversibly depletes/injects electrolyte ions into the system, effectively controlling the “working” capacitance. The symmetric W-Cap operates with a proton-conducting hydrogel electrolyte PVA/H₂SO₄ and shows a high capacitance (1.6 mF cm⁻²) that can be switched “on” and “off” by applying a DC bias potential (-1.0 V) at the G-electrode. This effectively suppresses AC electroadsorption in the nanoporous carbon electrodes of the W-Cap, resulting in a high capacitance drop from an “on” to an “off” state. The new monolithic structures achieve high rate performance, reversible on-off switching with an off-value reaching 0.5 %, which even surpasses recently reported values. Establishing technologies and device architectures for functional ionic electroadsorption devices is crucial for diverse fields ranging from microelectronics and iontronics to biointerfacing and neuromodulation.

As prominent components of the Internet-of-Things (IoT) front-end, sensors capable of intelligently collecting sensing information from the surrounding environment with increasingly lower prices are required. Planar microwave chipless sensors could be a valid solution and will be the focus of this PhD research proposal. With a completely passive solution, that in its basic configuration is composed by only microstrip resonant structures and sensitive materials, this frequency-domain sensing technology results particularly adapt for the integration in smart devices. The objectives of the PhD activity will be to contribute with a further investigation of sensitive materials in the context of environmental monitoring and to test their reliability as sensitive components in controlled wired condition. The purpose is, then, to move from a wired controlled measurement to a wireless reading acquisition of the microwave sensing node response. Finally, the sensor potentialities will be further enriched by adopting fabrication techniques typical of the flexible electronics field. An inkjet printing strategy is investigated for the purpose trying to ensure good detection properties as in the case of standard fabricated tags.

<p dir="ltr">Inkjet printing allows for rapid prototyping and design iteration that traditional printing methods do not. The use of inkjet printing for electronic devices has seen increased use in recent years owing to its high precision and ability to quickly test new devices. However, nearly all of this work has been done on smooth substrates with surface roughnesses on the nano scale. To further explore the capabilities of inkjet printing on rough surfaces, electrically conductive ink was printed onto a variety of solids-loaded polymer composite substrates using varied filler particle sizes with surface roughnesses on the micron scale. This work examines the necessary parameters required to print on these rough surfaces and characterizes the electrical properties of deposited ink. Electrical conductivity was demonstrated on surfaces across five distinct substrates using varied particle sizes. Further, two functional devices in the form of a heater and a strain gauge were printed and tested on these substrates. These devices showed comparable performance to commercially available devices. These findings offer improved ability to use inkjet technology on a variety of substrates and have implications in multiple fields. This demonstration of basic conductivity and advanced functionality shows the potential to continue development of complex devices and integrate them into new substrates. The optimization of printing algorithms on these rough surfaces also has significant potential to improve printability on rough surfaces and further expand capabilities.</p>

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No description available.

This study is devoted to some of the most important issues for advancing inkjet printing for possible application in the coating industry with a focus on piezoelectric droplet on demand (DOD) inkjet technology. Current problems, as embodied in liquid filament breakup along with satellite droplet formation and reduction in droplet sizes, are discussed and then potential solutions identified. For satellite droplets, it is shown that liquid filament break-up behavior can be predicted by using a combination of two pi-numbers, including the Weber number, We and the Ohnesorge number, Oh, or the Reynolds number, Re, and the Weber number, We. All of these are dependent only on the ejected liquid properties and the velocity waveform at the print-head inlet. These new criteria are shown to have merit in comparison to currently used criteria for identifying filament physical features such as length and diameter that control the formation of subsequent droplets. In addition, this study performs scaling analyses for the design and operation of inkjet printing heads. Because droplet sizes from inkjet nozzles are typically on the order of nozzle dimensions, a numerical simulation is carried out to provide insight into how to reduce droplet sizes by employing a novel input waveform impressed on the print-head liquid inflow without changing the nozzle geometry. A regime map for characterizing the generation of small droplets based on We and a non-dimensional frequency, Ω is proposed and discussed. In an attempt to advance inkjet printing technology for coating purposes, a prototype was designed and then tested numerically. The numerical simulation successfully proved that the proposed prototype could be useful for coating purposes by repeatedly producing mono-dispersed droplets with controllable size and spacing. Finally, the influences of two independent piezoelectric characteristics - the maximum head displacement and corresponding frequency, was investigated to examine the quality of filament breakup quality and favorable piezoelectric displacements and frequencies were identified.

Microsieves are permeable membranes with excellent properties for filtration applications. In this thesis the inkjet-technology is applied (1) to manufacture micro-porous microsieves, and (2) to reinforce the mechanical stability of float-cast, nano-porous microsieves: (1) The current process for inkjet-printed microsieves includes a manual step which is substituted by inkjet printing in order to increase the level of automation. The obtained microsieves are characterized regarding the pore size distribution. Effects which occur during the manufacture and broaden the pore size distribution are identified. Based on the results, the process is improved to obtain fully inkjet-printed microsieves with a narrowed pore size distribution. (2) The mechanical stability of fragile, float-cast microsieves is improved by the application of inkjet-printed reinforcement patterns on top of the microsieves. A machine is built to combine both technologies of float-casting and inkjet printing. The printing process is improved to manufacture reinforcement patterns of well-defined geometry. / Mikrosiebe sind permeable Membranen mit herausragenden Eigenschaften für die Anwendung in der Filtration. In der vorliegenden Dissertation wird die Inkjet-Drucktechnologie angewandt, um (1) mikroporöse Mikrosiebe herzustellen und (2) nanoporöse Mikrosiebe mechanisch zu stabilisieren: (1) Die Herstellung von Mikrosieben mittels Inkjet-Druck beinhaltet momentan einen manuellen Schritt, der durch einen Inkjet-Druckschritt ersetzt wird, um den Automatisierungsgrad des Verfahrens zu erhöhen. Die Mikrosiebe werden bezüglich der Porengrößenverteilung untersucht. Auftretende Effekte, die die Porengrößenverteilung verbreitern, werden identifiziert. Aus den Resultaten dieser Analyse wird der Prozess optimiert, um Mikrosiebe mit einer engen Porengrößenverteilung herzustellen. (2) Die mechanische Stabilität von fragilen Mikrosieben, die mittels Float-Casting hergestellt werden, wird durch das Aufbringen einer Stützstruktur mittels Inkjet-Druck verstärkt. Ein Maschinensetup wird aufgebaut um beide Technologien des Float-Castings und des Inkjet-Drucks zu kombinieren. Weiterhin wird der Prozess dahingehend optimiert, Stützstrukturen mit wohl-definierten Parametern zu erzielen.

Since the discovery of graphene, substantial effort has been put toward the synthesis and production of 2D materials. Developing scalable methods for the production of high-quality exfoliated nanosheets has proved a significant challenge. To date, the most promising scalable method for achieving these materials is through the liquid-based exfoliation (LBE) of nanosheetsin solvents. Thin films of nanosheets in dispersion can be modified with additives to produce 2D inks for printed electronics using inkjet printing. This is the most promising method for the deposition of such materials onto any substrate on an industrial production level. Although well-developed metallic and organic printed electronic inks exist on the market, there is still a need to improve or develop new inks based on semiconductor materials such as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) that are stable, have good jetting conditions and deliver good printing quality.The inertness and mechanical properties of layered materials such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) make them ideally suited for printed electronics and solution processing. In addition,the high electron mobility of the layered semiconductors, make them a candidate to become a high-performance semiconductor material in printed electronics. Together, these features make MoS2 a simple and robust material with good semiconducting properties that is also suitable for solution coating and printing. It is also environmentally safe.The method described in this thesis could be easily employed to exfoliate many types of 2D materials in liquids. It consists of two exfoliation steps, one based on mechanical exfoliation of the bulk powder utilizing sand paper, and the other inthe liquid dispersion, using probe sonication to liquid-exfoliate the nanosheets. The dispersions, which were prepared in surfactant solution, were decanted, and the supernatant was collected and used for printing tests performed with a Dimatix inkjetprinter. The printing test shows that it is possible to use the MoS2 dispersion as a printed electronics inkjet ink and that optimization for specific printer and substrate combinations should be performed. There should also be advances in ink development, which would improve the drop formation and break-off at the inkjet printing nozzles, the ink jetting and, consequently, the printing quality. / Sedan upptäckten av grafen har mycket arbete lagts på framställning och produktion av 2D-material. En viktig uppgift har varit att ta fram skalbara metoder för produktion av högkvalitativa  nanosheets via exfoliering. Den mest lovande skalbarametoden hittills har varit vätskebaserad exfoliering av nanosheets i lösningsmedel. Tunna filmer av nanosheets i dispersion kan anpassas med hjälp av tillsatser och användas för tillverkning av halvledare strukturer med inkjet-skrivare, vilket är den mest lovande metoden för på en industriell produktions nivå beläggaden typen av material på substrat. Även om det finns välutvecklade metalliska och organiskabläck för tryckt elektronik, så finns det fortfarande ett behov av att förbättra eller utveckla nya bläck baserade på halvledarmaterial som t.ex. TMD, som är stabila, har goda bestryknings  egenskaper och ger bra tryckkvalitet. Den inerta naturen tillsammans med de mekaniska egenskaperna som finns hosskiktade material, som t.ex. molybdendisulfid (MoS2), gör demlämpliga för flexibel elektronik och bearbetning i lösning. Dessutom gör den höga elektronmobiliteten i dessa 2D-halvledaredem till en stark kandidat som halvledarmaterial inom trycktelektronik. Det betyder att MoS2 är ett enkelt och robust material med goda halvledaregenskaper som är lämpligt för bestrykning från lösning och tryck, och är miljömässigt säker.Den metod som beskrivs här kan med fördel användas föratt exfoliera alla typer av 2D-material i lösning. Exfolieringensker i två steg; först mekanisk exfoliering av torr bulk med sandpapper, därefter används ultraljudsbehandling i lösning för att exfoliera nanosheets. De dispersioner som framställts i lösning med surfaktanter dekanterades och det övre skiktetanvändes i trycktester med en Dimatix inkjet-skrivare.Tryckprovet visar att det är möjligt att använda MoS2 -dispersion som ett inkjet-bläck och att optimering för särskildaskrivar- och substratkombinationer borde göras, såsom förbättringav bläcksammansättningen med avseende på droppbildning och break-off vid skrivarmunstycket, vilket i sin tur skulleförbättra tryckkvaliteten. / KM2 / Paper Solar Cells

Plusieurs défis subsistent pour la migration de l’électronique imprimée vers l’industrie, malgré des avancées récentes. Dans ces travaux de thèse, l’optimisation du procédé d’impression d’encres à base de nanoparticules d’argent (<Ø>=25 nm) en fonction de sa rhéologie et des interactions fluide/substrat a permis de réaliser des interconnexions électriques d’une épaisseur de 500 nm. Ces lignes imprimées sur des substrats silicium ou flexibles sont ensuite recuites par des méthodes conventionnelles (étuve ou infrarouge) ou sélectives (micro-onde) à des températures comprises entre 100 et 300°C.Une meilleure compréhension de la relation procédé/microstructure des couches minces imprimées, via plusieurs caractérisations cristallographiques (DRX, EBSD et EDX), a permis d’optimiser la croissance des domaines nanocristallins, activée pour des énergies de l’ordre de 3 à 5 kJ•mol-1. Outre les faibles contraintes résiduelles (70 MPa), cette optimisation permet d’atteindre de faibles résistivités électriques (3.4 µOhm•cm) associées à un accroissement de la cohérence des réseaux cristallins aux joints de grains. La probabilité de réflexion des électrons à ces interfaces peut être davantage réduite, grâce à une approche innovante de croissance orientée des cristallites par interdiffusion atomique à partir du substrat.La faible rigidité mécanique (E<50 GPa) de ces lignes initialement poreuses nécessite une étape de renforcement par texturation ou par croissance electroless pour résister aux étapes de micro-assemblage et de soudure filaire. La réalisation d’un démonstrateur fonctionnel a ainsi permis de valider la technologie d’impression pour la fabrication de composants électroniques. / Several challenges are still holding back the technological transfer of printed electronics to industry in spite of recent progresses. In this thesis work, the printing method of inks based on silver nanoparticles (<Ø>=25 nm) was optimized according to its rheology and to the fluid/substrate interactions for the fabrication of electrical interconnections with a thickness of 500 nm. These lines were printed on silicon or flexible substrates and annealed either by conventional (oven or infrared) or selective methods (microwave) at temperatures comprised between 100 and 300 °C.A better understanding of the relationship between process and microstructure of these printed thin films, based on several crystallographic equipments (XRD, EBSD and EDX), led to the optimization of nanocrystallites growth with an activation energy of about 3 to 5 kJ•mol-1. In addition to the low residual stress (70 MPa), this optimization is used to achieve low electrical resistivity (3.4 μOhm•cm) associated with a greater coherence of the crystal lattices at grain boundaries. The probability of electron scattering at such interfaces can be further reduced using an innovative approach of oriented crystallite growth by atomic interdiffusion from the substrate.The low mechanical stiffness (E<50 GPa) of these porous lines requires a reinforcement step either by crystalline texturation or by electroless growth to withstand the assembly and wire-bonding steps. The fabrication of a functional demonstrator thus validated the printing technology for the manufacture of electronic components.