Ink Synthesis and Inkjet Printing of Multilayer Graphene Nanoshells
Open AccessInkjet printing of functional materials for electronics devices and platforms has become a large area of research in the past two decades as many promising applications, from bendable displays to wearable sensors, have been demonstrated. For these laboratory demonstrations to become commercially viable, ink materials that are consistent and economically viable are required. Inkjet inks experience an extreme range of shear rates (0 - 1 x 10^6 s^-1) and need to remain physically and chemically stable throughout their lifetimes. Printing performance between batches must be consistent and reliable. It is advantageous to use materials that are environmentally benign as environmental concerns grow in the face of climate change.In this dissertation, we investigate synthesis processes for producing inkjet inks with a novel and carbon-negative carbon nanomaterial—multilayer graphene nanoshells—as the functional material. The two colloidal stability mechanisms for nanoparticles dispersed into liquids, steric and electrostatic, are implemented and their abilities to produce highly concentrated and stable, printable inks are compared. For electrostatic stabilization, we probe the mechanism’s limit and find that while stability is improved by increasing pH, the coupled ionic strength ultimately limits the stability mechanism in terms of a maximum solid loading. For the chosen steric stabilizing material, we determine a method and develop a model to estimate the dosage required for full particle surface coverage and then find the maximum solid loading. Both inks are printed and electrically characterized. The inks developed here present a pathway towards sustainable and inkjet printable passive electrical components, such as resistors.
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