Inkjet Technology for Digital Fabrication

Wiley, 2012. — 392 p.Whilst inkjet technology is well-established on home and small office desktops and is now having increasing impact in commercial printing, it can also be used to deposit materials other than ink as individual droplets at a microscopic scale. This allows metals, ceramics, polymers and biological materials (including living cells) to be patterned on to substrates under precise digital control. This approach offers huge potential advantages for manufacturing, since inkjet methods can be used to generate structures and functions which cannot be attained in other ways.
Beginning with an overview of the fundamentals, this book covers the key components, for example piezoelectric print-heads and fluids for inkjet printing, and the processes involved. It goes on to describe specific applications, e.g. MEMS, printed circuits, active and passive electronics, biopolymers and living cells, and additive manufacturing. Detailed case studies are included on flat-panel OLED displays, RFID (radio-frequency identification) manufacturing and tissue engineering, while a comprehensive examination of the current technologies and future directions of inkjet technology completes the coverage.Contents
About the Editors
List of Contributors
Preface
Introduction to Inkjet Printing for Manufacturing;
Fundamentals of Inkjet Technology;
Dynamics of Piezoelectric Print-Heads;
Fluids for Inkjet Printing;
When the Drop Hits the Substrate;
Manufacturing of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS);
Conductive Tracks and Passive Electronics;
Printed Circuit Board Fabrication;
Active Electronics;
Flat Panel Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) Displays: A Case Study;
Radiofrequency Identification (RFID) Manufacturing: A Case Study;
Biopolymers and Cells;
Tissue Engineering: A Case Study;
Three-Dimensional Digital Fabrication;
Current Inkjet Technology and Future Directions;
Index.