Highly conductive silver may be fabricated at room temperature using in-situ reactive silver precursor inks by microreactor-assisted printing without any post-processing. Reactive silver nanoinks, synthesized in-situ from the microreactor, may be directly delivered onto glass and polymeric substrates without any surface treatment to form a highly dense and uniform silver feature. The distribution of the reactive silver nanoinks can be controlled by adjusting the flow rate of the continuous flow. Silver lines may be fabricated using the in-situ reactive precursors delivered via a micro-channel applicator.

Disclosed is a method of printing an ultranarrow line of a functional material. The method entails providing a substrate having an interlayer on the substrate and printing the ultranarrow line by depositing ink on the interlayer of the substrate, the ink comprising the functional material and a solvent mixture that partially dissolves the interlayer on the substrate to cause the ink to shrink and sink into the interlayer on the substrate thereby reducing a width of the line.

A shaping method includes a first ejection step of ejecting a first curable viscous fluid, a planarization step of planarizing the first curable viscous fluid, a first curing step of curing the first curable viscous fluid, a cured layer forming step of repeatedly executing the first ejection step, the planarization step, and the first curing step to form a cured layer, a second ejection step of ejecting a second curable viscous fluid onto a surface of the cured layer, a second curing step of forming a smooth surface on the surface of the cured layer by curing the second curable viscous fluid, a third ejection step of ejecting a fluid containing metal particles onto the smooth surface, and a third curing step of curing the fluid containing the metal particles ejected in the third ejection step to form a metallic conductor on the smooth surface.

A method for preparing the automated production of an electronic component, in which an SMD component and/or a conductor track are arranged on a substrate, for production by 3D printing. Structural information describing the structure of the electronic component is used to determine first production information including a first machine-readable control command set for a production device designed at least in part for 3D printing. Together with the first control command set, post-processing information is determined from the structural information and/or the production information, which includes recycling information including a second, machine-readable control command set for a recycling device for at least partial automated recycling of the electronic component by recovery of at least one material of the electronic component and/or repair information including a third machine-readable control command set for a repair device for an at least partial automatic repair of the electronic component, and is reserved for the post-processing and/or repair of the electronic component.

Methods are disclosed relating to the operation of a micro-structural fluid ejector in a fluid printing apparatus. The methods include providing an imaging system, capturing a digital image of the micro-structural fluid ejector and its surroundings, and pre-processing the digital image to detect edges. A method of detecting contact of a micro-structural fluid ejector to a substrate includes repeatedly lowering the print head and measuring the length of a detected edge until the currently measured length is determined to be longer than a previously measured length. A method of adjusting contact of a micro-structural fluid ejector to a substrate includes calculating a bending coefficient A of the micro-structural fluid ejector and lowering the print head toward the substrate if the bending coefficient A is less than a minimum threshold value A.sub.min, raising the print head away from the substrate if the bending coefficient A is greater than a maximum threshold value A.sub.max, and making no change to the vertical displacement of the print head if the bending coefficient A is in the range of A.sub.min to A.sub.max. A method of detecting a fault condition in fluid flow from a micro-structural fluid ejector onto a substrate includes analyzing the digital image to determine whether edges are present in a region of interest where fluid dispensed from the micro-structural fluid ejector should be present.

Provided is a conductive pattern having at least one unit conductive pattern forming one touch pixel according to an aspect of the present invention. The at least one unit conductive pattern includes a plurality of nanostructures each having opposite ends. A ratio of nanostructures, both opposite ends of which are in contact with edges of the at least one unit conductive pattern to all nanostructures included in the at least one unit conductive pattern is 70% or more.

Methods and systems suitable for fabricating multi-layer elastic electronic devices, and elastic electronic devices formed thereby. A method of fabricating an elastomer-based electronic device includes printing a first liquid material and then a second liquid material on a fabric substrate that comprises fibers. The first and second liquid materials are sequentially printed with a three-dimensional printer that directly prints the first liquid material onto the fabric substrate so that the first liquid material wicks through some of the fibers of the fabric substrate and forms a solid matrix of an elastomer-based composite that comprises the matrix and the fabric substrate, after which the three-dimensional printer directly prints the second liquid material on the elastomer-based composite to form a film thereon. The elastomer-based composite and film are electrical components of the elastomer-based electronic device.

A method of extruding a nanoparticle composition onto a substrate is disclosed. A nanoparticle composition dispenser includes a capillary tube. The capillary tube is oriented such that a first longitudinal axis extending through the capillary tube is tilted at an oblique angle relative to a vertical axis. The capillary tube is positioned above the substrate such that the capillary tube and its reflection from the substrate are visible within a field-of-view of a camera. Digital images of the capillary tube and its reflection are captured and processed to detect the first longitudinal axis extending through the capillary tube and a second longitudinal axis extending through the reflection. A point of intersection of the first longitudinal axis and the second longitudinal axis is calculated to estimate a zero-height position. The capillary tube is positioned at a start position in accordance with the zero-height position.

A system and method of additively manufacturing a part including electrically conductive or static dissipating fluorine-containing polymers. The method includes depositing fluorine-containing polymer additive manufacturing material onto a build platform, selectively cross-linking portions of the deposited additive manufacturing material, and curing the selectively cross-linked portions such that the part is at least one of electrically conductive and static dissipating.

A dispensing system includes a dispensing unit assembly configured to dispense viscous material and a gantry coupled to the frame. The gantry is configured to support the dispensing unit assembly and to move the dispensing unit assembly in x-axis and y-axis directions. The dispensing unit assembly includes a support bracket secured to the gantry and a movable bracket rotatably coupled to the support bracket by a first strain wave gear system configured to enable the rotation of the movable bracket with respect to the support bracket about a first axis. The dispensing unit assembly further includes a dispensing unit rotatably coupled to the movable bracket by a second strain wave gear system configured to enable the rotation of the dispensing unit with respect to the movable bracket about a second axis generally perpendicular to the first axis.