SURFACE-MOUNT COMPONENT ATTACHMENT ON AEROSOL JET PRINTED SUSTAINABLE WATER-BASE SILVER NANOPARTICLE INK

Additive methods are preferred over processes that need hard tooling due to ramp-up speed and soft tooling. Increasing demand for the miniaturization of electronics has accelerated the development of flexible electronics technology. Flexible electronic architectures have gained traction in products for various end applications. The prior generation of additive processes used volatile organic solvent-based inks to fabricate printed circuits. Increased emphasis on environmental, social, and governmental factors has called attention to the development of sustainable products. Recent material development has seen the emergence of water-based inks with low-impact environmental waste. Sustainable inks use water as the carrier medium in place of volatile solvents. Owing to the recent introduction of these formulations, less is known about the ability to form functional circuits with sustainable inks or their performance relative to the incumbent non-sustainable volatile organic solvent-based inks. In this paper, Components were attached to additively printed water-based ink circuits fabricated using an aerosol jet. Interconnect methods have been studied, including - electrically conductive adhesives. The component performance of RLC has been studied as a function of operating frequency and compared with the rated values. Mechanical performance has been studied using the shear load to failure and electron dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. The electrical performance has been correlated with the mechanical performance and optical methods have also been used to characterize the results of the printed trace.