Inkjet printing is familiar as a method of printing text and images onto porous surfaces. In the last few years it has been used as a free-form fabrication method for building three-dimensional parts and is being explored as a way of printing electrical and optical devices, especially where these involve organic components. Inkjet printers are also being used to produce arrays of proteins and nucleic acids. The need for a versatile inkjet technology for free-forming materials and for multilayer devices raises a number of materials problems that do not apply to conventional printing of images. Higher resolutions will be needed if organic transistors are to be printed. Also, it must be possible to print pinhole-free layers to avoid shorting of devices. Multiple layers must be printed such that they mix and react to form a single material or such that they form discrete unmixed layers. Printing on dense rather than porous substrates will be the norm. This article reviews the range of materials that has been ...

Inkjet Printing for Materials and Devices

(1976). Nuclear Tracks in Solids (Principles and Applications) Nuclear Technology: Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 91-92.

Nuclear Tracks in Solids (Principles and Applications)

Micro total analysis systems. Recent developments.

This review gives a brief overview of microvalves, and focuses on the actuation mechanisms and their applications. One of the stumbling blocks for successful miniaturization and commercialization of fully integrated microfluidic systems was the development of reliable microvalves. Applications of the microvalves include flow regulation, on/off switching and sealing of liquids, gases or vacuums. Microvalves have been developed in the form of active or passive microvalves employing mechanical, non-mechanical and external systems. Even though great progress has been made during the last 20 years, there is plenty of room for further improving the performance of existing microvalves.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0960-1317/16/5/R01/pdf

A review of microvalves

Polymers have assumed the leading role as substrate materials for microfluidic devices in recent years. They offer a broad range of material parameters as well as material and surface chemical properties which enable microscopic design features that cannot be realised by any other class of materials. A similar range of fabrication technologies exist to generate microfluidic devices from these materials. This review will introduce the currently relevant microfabrication technologies such as replication methods like hot embossing, injection molding, microthermoforming and casting as well as photodefining methods like lithography and laser ablation for microfluidic systems and discuss academic and industrial considerations for their use. A section on back-end processing completes the overview.

Polymer microfabrication technologies for microfluidic systems

The electric solar wind sail (E-sail) is a space propulsion concept that uses the natural solar wind dynamic pressure for producing spacecraft thrust. In its baseline form, the E-sail consists of a number of long, thin, conducting, and centrifugally stretched tethers, which are kept in a high positive potential by an onboard electron gun. The concept gains its efficiency from the fact that the effective sail area, i.e., the potential structure of the tethers, can be millions of times larger than the physical area of the thin tethers wires, which offsets the fact that the dynamic pressure of the solar wind is very weak. Indeed, according to the most recent published estimates, an E-sail of 1 N thrust and 100 kg mass could be built in the rather near future, providing a revolutionary level of propulsive performance (specific acceleration) for travel in the solar system. Here we give a review of the ongoing technical development work of the E-sail, covering tether construction, overall mechanical design alternatives, guidance and navigation strategies, and dynamical and orbital simulations.

http://www.electric-sailing.fi/paper9.pdf

Invited Article: Electric solar wind sail: Toward test missions

During the last 15 years, miniaturized paraffin actuation has evolved through the need of a simple actuation principle, still able to deliver large strokes and high actuation forces at small scales. This is achieved by the large and rather incompressible volume expansion associated with the solid-to-liquid phase transition of paraffin. The common approach has been to encapsulate the paraffin by a stiff surrounding that directs the volume expansion toward a flexible membrane, which deflects in a directed stroke. However, a number of alternative methods have also been used in the literature. The most common applications to this date have been switches, positioning actuators, and microfluidic valves and pumps. This review will treat the historical background, as well as the fundamentals in paraffin actuation, including material properties of paraffin. Besides reviewing the three major groups of paraffin actuator applications—actuators, valves, and pumps—the modelling done on paraffin actuation will be explored. Furthermore, a section focusing on fabrication of paraffin microactuators is also included. The review ends with conclusions and outlook of the field, identifying unexplored potential of paraffin actuation.

/pdf/review-on-miniaturized-paraffin-phase-change-actuators-2dj3ut2170.pdf

Review on miniaturized paraffin phase change actuators, valves, and pumps

In this paper a fabrication process for integrating paraffin-actuated structures in polycarbonate is outlined. A paraffin-actuated membrane with a diameter of 2.5 mm, where the volume expansion of 10–15% associated with the solid-to-liquid phase transition of paraffin is utilized, has been fabricated and evaluated. Microstructures fabricated in silicon have via an electroplated nickel mould been replicated in polycarbonate by hot embossing and the resulting structures have been sealed by thermal bonding. The bonding strength was measured by a pressurizing test, and the polycarbonate surfaces were characterized with electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA). It was found that the bond strength increased when an oxygen plasma treatment was used prior to bonding. ESCA measurements showed a corresponding increase in oxygen content on the plasma treated surfaces. This procedure also improved the wetting properties. The contact angle between paraffin and polycarbonate decreased from 10° after embossing to about 5° after plasma treatment. The fabricated actuator had a total thickness of 1 mm and the membrane deflected about 140 μm when heating the actuator above the melting point of paraffin. Paraffin wax actuators are possible to integrate in plastic structures making them promising candidates in applications such as disposable microfluidic systems where inexpensive and robust valves and pumps are needed.

Fabrication of a paraffin actuator using hot embossing of polycarbonate

An actuator that uses the volume expansion related to the solid-to-liquid phase transition of paraffin wax has been fabricated and evaluated. The actuator consists of a ring-shaped paraffin cavity confined by two joint silicon diaphragms with rigid centers. When the paraffin is melted, the resulting hydrostatic pressure deflects the joined rigid centers in one direction only. The magnitude of the deflection is primarily a function of the geometrical relation between the two diaphragms, giving the opportunity to tailor the behavior of the actuator in a large range. Conventional IC-processing techniques have been used to fabricate a prototype with a width of 68 mm and a thickness of 825 μm. The prototype attained a maximum deflection of ca. 90 μm. Loaded with 3 N it still exhibits a deflection of ca. 75 μm. The device can be used as a thermal switch.

A large stroke, high force paraffin phase transition actuator

Techniques to create three-dimensional microstructures are still a matter of research, and localized electrodeposition is a promising path to inexpensive free-form microfabrication in metal. The principle is to put the tip of a needle very close to a cond

Greger Thornell

Papers

Invited Article: Electric solar wind sail: Toward test missions

Review on miniaturized paraffin phase change actuators, valves, and pumps

Fabrication of a paraffin actuator using hot embossing of polycarbonate

A large stroke, high force paraffin phase transition actuator

High Resolution 3D Microstructures Made by Localized Electrodeposition of Nickel