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High-resolution Patterning Using Two Modes of Electrohydrodynamic Jet: Drop on Demand and Near-field Electrospinning
Published on: July 10, 2018
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Ultrafast 3D printing with submicrometer features using electrostatic jet deflection.
Ievgenii Liashenko1,2, Joan Rosell-Llompart3,4, Andreu Cabot5,6
1Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Av. dels Països Catalans 26, 43007, Tarragona, Spain.
Nature Communications
|February 8, 2020
Summary
Electrohydrodynamic jetting enables high-speed 3D printing of submicrometer features. By controlling jet trajectory with electrostatic deflection, this advanced additive manufacturing technique achieves unprecedented printing speeds.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Engineering
Background:
- Additive manufacturing offers versatility but faces limitations in printing speed and resolution.
- Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) jetting can produce submicrometer jets at high speeds (>1 m/s).
- Conventional mechanical stages are too slow to precisely collect these fast EHD jets.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate precise control over EHD jet trajectory for high-resolution 3D printing.
- To overcome the speed limitations of mechanical stages in EHD jetting.
- To achieve significantly faster printing speeds for nanoscale additive manufacturing.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing electrodes around the jet to control its trajectory via electrostatic deflection.
- Achieving lateral accelerations up to 10^6 m/s^2 for precise jet steering.
- Printing 3D objects by stacking nanofibers layer-by-layer at high frequencies (up to 2000 Hz).
Main Results:
- Continuous adjustment of the EHD jet's trajectory was achieved through electrostatic control.
- Submicrometer features were printed with high precision by stacking nanofibers.
- Layer-by-layer printing frequencies reached 2000 Hz.
- Achieved in-plane printing speeds of 0.5 m/s and vertical speeds of 0.4 mm/s.
Conclusions:
- Electrostatic deflection of EHD jets enables high-speed, high-resolution 3D printing.
- This method is three to four orders of magnitude faster than existing techniques for equivalent feature sizes.
- Opens new possibilities for rapid additive manufacturing of nanoscale structures.
