Systematic Design of a Graphene Ink Formulation for Aerosol Jet Printing

Livio Gamba; Zachary T. Johnson; Jackie Atterberg; Santiago Diaz-Arauzo; Julia R. Downing; Jonathan C. Claussen; Mark C. Hersam; Ethan B. Secor

doi:10.1021/ACSAMI.2C18838

Systematic Design of a Graphene Ink Formulation for Aerosol Jet Printing

Livio Gamba, Zachary T. Johnson, Jackie Atterberg, Santiago Diaz-Arauzo, Julia R. Downing, Jonathan C. Claussen, Mark C. Hersam, Ethan B. Secor^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Materials Science and Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

Aerosol jet printing is a noncontact, digital, additive manufacturing technique compatible with a wide variety of functional materials. Although promising, development of new materials and devices using this technique remains hindered by limited rational ink formulation, with most recent studies focused on device demonstration rather than foundational process science. In the present work, a systematic approach to formulating a polymer-stabilized graphene ink is reported, which considers the effect of solvent composition on dispersion, rheology, wetting, drying, and phase separation characteristics that drive process outcomes. It was found that a four-component solvent mixture composed of isobutyl acetate, diglyme, dihydrolevoglucosenone, and glycerol supported efficient ink atomization and controlled inline drying to reduce overspray and wetting instabilities while maintaining high resolution and electrical conductivity, thus overcoming a trade-off in deposition rate and resolution common to aerosol jet printing. Biochemical sensors were printed for amperometric detection of the pesticide parathion, exhibiting a detection limit of 732 nM and a sensitivity of 34 nA μM⁻¹, demonstrating the viability of this graphene ink for fabricating functional electronic devices.(Figure

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	3325-3335
Number of pages	11
Journal	ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume	15
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/ACSAMI.2C18838
State	Published - Jan 18 2023

Funding

L.G. and E.B.S. acknowledge the ISU Department of Mechanical Engineering for startup funding support and access to optical profilometry equipment. The shear exfoliation of graphene with ethyl cellulose at Northwestern University was supported by the National Science Foundation Future Manufacturing Research Grant Program (Grant NSF CMMI-2037026). This work made use of the EPIC facility and Keck-II facilities of the Northwestern University NUANCE Center, which is supported by the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (Grant NSF ECCS-1542205), the Northwestern University Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (Grant NSF DMR-1720139), and the State of Illinois. J.R.D. acknowledges financial support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program. S.D.-A. acknowledges support from the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science (GEM) Fellowship Program. We also acknowledge Chen Ling for data analysis support by developing an AFM analysis code available here . J.C.C. and Z.T.J. acknowledge funding support from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture under Awards 2021-67021-34457 and 2021-67011-35130 as well as from the Grants4Ag program from Bayer Crop Science. Iowa State University Department of Mechanical Engineering, Grants NSF CMMI-2037026, USDA 2021-67021-34457, USDA 2021-67011-35130, NSF ECCS-1542205, NSF DMR-1720139, State of Illinois, Bayer Crop Science. L.G. and E.B.S. acknowledge the ISU Department of Mechanical Engineering for startup funding support and access to optical profilometry equipment. The shear exfoliation of graphene with ethyl cellulose at Northwestern University was supported by the National Science Foundation Future Manufacturing Research Grant Program (Grant NSF CMMI-2037026). This work made use of the EPIC facility and Keck-II facilities of the Northwestern University NUANCE Center, which is supported by the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (Grant NSF ECCS-1542205), the Northwestern University Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (Grant NSF DMR-1720139), and the State of Illinois. J.R.D. acknowledges financial support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program. S.D.-A. acknowledges support from the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science (GEM) Fellowship Program. We also acknowledge Chen Ling for data analysis support by developing an AFM analysis code available here. J.C.C. and Z.T.J. acknowledge funding support from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture under Awards 2021-67021-34457 and 2021-67011-35130 as well as from the Grants4Ag program from Bayer Crop Science.

Keywords

2D materials
electrochemical sensing
flexible electronics
nanomaterial ink
printed electronics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Materials Science

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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abstract = "Aerosol jet printing is a noncontact, digital, additive manufacturing technique compatible with a wide variety of functional materials. Although promising, development of new materials and devices using this technique remains hindered by limited rational ink formulation, with most recent studies focused on device demonstration rather than foundational process science. In the present work, a systematic approach to formulating a polymer-stabilized graphene ink is reported, which considers the effect of solvent composition on dispersion, rheology, wetting, drying, and phase separation characteristics that drive process outcomes. It was found that a four-component solvent mixture composed of isobutyl acetate, diglyme, dihydrolevoglucosenone, and glycerol supported efficient ink atomization and controlled inline drying to reduce overspray and wetting instabilities while maintaining high resolution and electrical conductivity, thus overcoming a trade-off in deposition rate and resolution common to aerosol jet printing. Biochemical sensors were printed for amperometric detection of the pesticide parathion, exhibiting a detection limit of 732 nM and a sensitivity of 34 nA μM−1, demonstrating the viability of this graphene ink for fabricating functional electronic devices.(Figure",

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Systematic Design of a Graphene Ink Formulation for Aerosol Jet Printing

Abstract

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Keywords

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UN SDGs

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