Inkjet Printer Prints Circuits Onto Circuit Boards

Thanks to a customized inkjet printer, South Korean battery chemist Sang-Young Lee can make flexible, durable supercapacitors and simple circuit components.

Lee has modified the inkjet printer so that it can print out electronic circuits and supercapacitors. He empties the ink cartridges and refills them with specially formulated battery materials and conductive inks.

According to MIT Technology Reviews, all the materials in the recipe have to be tailored with preciseness and printed in certain sequences. Cellulose primer goes first to absorb and keep inks, followed by carbon nanotubes and silver nanowire electrodes. On the top layer is the novel ink-jet compatible electrolyte ink. The electrolyte, which conducts ions and electrons, is typically a liquid, however, Lee initiatively made a fully inkjet compatible set of materials that includes the electrolyte.

The technology is still in progress.

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