A primer layer comprising a polyvinyl butyral resin enhances adhesion of silver nanoparticle inks onto plastic substrates. The primer layer comprises a polyvinyl butyral (PVB) resin having a polyvinyl alcohol content between about 18 wt. % to about 21 wt. %. The PVB resin may also have a glass transition temperature greater than about 70° C. Optionally, the PVB primer layer may further be enhanced by cross-linking using a melamine-formaldehyde resin. Conductive traces formed on plastic substrates having the PVB primer layer exhibit an acceptable cross-hatch adhesion rating with little to no degradation of adhesion being observed after exposure to 4-days salt mist aging or 1-day high humidity aging.

A circuit formation method includes: a protruding portion formation step of forming a protruding portion by applying a curable viscous fluid onto a base and curing the curable viscous fluid; a wiring formation step of forming a wiring extending toward the protruding portion by applying a metal-containing liquid containing nanometer-sized metal fine particles onto a base and making the metal-containing liquid conductive; a paste application step of applying a resin paste containing micrometer-sized metal particles different from the metal-containing liquid on the protruding portion and the wiring, such that the protruding portion and the wiring are connected to each other; and a component placement step of placing a component having an electrode on the base, such that the electrode is in contact with the resin paste applied on the protruding portion.

Described herein are molecular inks, methods for printing the molecular inks on flexible substrates, and methods for forming printed electronic elements, such as resistive heaters, force sensors, motion sensors, and devices that include these elements, such as force responsive conductive heaters. The methods include printing a molecular ink on a flexible substrate that is heated to 30° C. to 90° C. before and/or during the printing process and curing the substrate to produce a conductive pattern thereon. The molecular inks generally include a particle-fee metal-complex composition formulated from at least one metal complex and a solvent, and optionally, a conductive filler material, and/or surfactant.

A method of additive manufacturing of a three-dimensional object is disclosed. The method comprises sequentially forming a plurality of layers each patterned according to the shape of a cross section of the object. In some embodiments, the formation of at least one of the layers comprises performing a raster scan to dispense at least a first building material composition, and a vector scan to dispense at least a second building material composition. The vector scan is optionally along a path selected to form at least one structure selected from the group consisting of (i) an elongated structure, (ii) a boundary structure at least partially surrounding an area filled with the first building material, and (iii) an inter-layer connecting structure.

A wireless sensor platform and methods of manufacture are provided. The platform involves providing a plurality of wireless sensors, where each of the sensors is fabricated on flexible substrates using printing techniques and low temperature curing. Each of the sensors can include planar sensor elements and planar antennas defined using the printing and curing. Further, each of the sensors can include a communications system configured to encode the data from the sensors into a spread spectrum code sequence that is transmitted to a central computer(s) for use in monitoring an area associated with the sensors.

Provided is a novel printing process for fabricating metallic, conductive and transparent ultra-thin nanowires and patterns including same on a substrate. The process includes two different controllable steps, each designed to achieving a useful and efficient pattern.

A method of preparing a conductive pattern on a substrate includes the steps of applying a receiving layer on a substrate, applying a metallic nanoparticle dispersion on the white receiving layer thereby forming a metallic pattern, and sintering the metallic pattern, characterized in that the receiving layer has a roughness Rz between 1 and 75.

A process for printing a metal wire pattern on a substrate, including: printing a first salt solution including a metal ion that will undergo a reduction half-reaction; printing a second salt solution containing an oxidizing agent that will undergo an oxidation half-reaction in contact with the first salt solution, resulting in the reduction of the metal ions of the first salt solution; and allowing the first and second salt solutions to react by a galvanic reaction, causing reduced metal ions of the first salt solution to precipitate as a solid, on the substrate.

A printing process for printing an ink pattern on a substrate is provided. The ink pattern to be printed is based on an available pattern layout. The pattern layout defines a desired layout of the ink pattern to be printed. Based on the pattern layout an input image for allocating dot positions of the ink pattern is generated. The printing process includes a step of comparing a scan image with the input image to carry out a quality inspection to detect any print defects in the printed ink pattern. The printing process includes a step of providing a decision on an approval or a rejection of the printed ink pattern. In case of an approval, the substrate can be supplied to a subsequent processing station to finalize the substrate. In case of a rejection, the substrate including print defects can be recycled.

A method for selective processing of a panel, the method may include receiving a panel that has a bottom side and a top side and comprises a first group of drilled holes and a second group of drilled holes; at least partially sealing a bottom of any through hole of the first group; filling, by a selective filing process, any drilled hole of the first group that has a top opening to provide at least partially filled drilled holes of the first group without filling the second group of drilled holes; and plugging, by a selective plugging process, a top of any drilled hole of the first group.