Inkjet-Printing on 3D-printed Substrate...

Oftentimes,sophisticated measurement equipment, especially optical devices such asspectrometers, are bulky and expensive. 3D-printing in combination withinkjet-printed devices such as sensors [1]-[3] and electronics provide for asuitable solution to fabricate devices sitting in, not only smart andfunctional, but also miniaturized and inexpensive packages. In order to enableprogress in ubiquitous deployment of smart packaging solutions and consequentlyalso of printed devices (compare [4]), straightforward access needs to begranted to the fabrication of basic designs of, e.g., capacitive sensors. Inour work, we study inkjet-printing capabilities of commercially available inks(e.g.: water-based Novacentrix Metalon JS-B25P, Methode ink 9201-MT, dispersionof silver nanoparticles by Sigma Aldrich) on various substrates using aconventional, commercially available off-the-shelf printer. Substrates are3D-printed polymers and metals as well as papers and foils (semiporous media)in combination with the application of coatings (primers) and/or insulatinginkjet inks. The suggested coatings are applied in order to increase theadhesion of the used inks. Additionally, capabilities to manufacturemulti-layered structures (as is, e.g., necessary for employment of a capacitivesensing principle) using the aforementioned techniques are investigated. Thecapability of printing silver onto PLA (as used in home-use 3D-printers) is additionallyof special interest since PLA is biocompatible [5] and silver is, up to acertain concentration, even antimicrobial [6], thus enabling ubiquitousdeployment of individual biosensing devices.