Printing as a material deposition process Printing Materials, Mumbai 5 th March 2011 Prof. Fritz Bircher, www.printtechnology.ch 1
Presentation outline Material deposition The inkjet printing process Interaction of the subsystems Drivers of the inkjet technology The next wave of inkjet 2
Bachelor Programs Automotive Engineering Electrical and Communication Engineering Computer Science Mechanical Engineering Micro- und Medical Technology Master Programs MSc Engineering Engineering and Information Technology MSc Biomedical Engineering Figures 1200 students of Bachelor and Master study courses 900 students of further education programmes 60 Professors 240 Lecturers 12 Mio. Euro in R&D Research Focus Area Mobile Information Society Technology on Humans Energy, Transportation, Mobility Produktion Technology 3
Material deposition Every process, which adds material to a substrate ist a material deposition process Of course all printing processes are material deposition processes Among all printing processes, inkjet is the most direct one to bring a defined amount of material (ink or other) on a substrate Inkjet as a digital printing process has definitely the highest flexibility and is therfore best suited for new applications in functional printing 4
Inkjet is the choice Many patents of early inkjet period have expired in the last 10 years (bubble jet, first piezoelectric print heads, binary continuous inkjet, tec.). Numerous patents were filled in during the last 5 years enormous activities in worldwide research Inkjet is just at a beginning to evolve its potential New markets promise substantial growth 5
The inkjet printing process Nozzle Pressure wave Ink channel Drop on substrate Drop ejection Drop formation 6
The inkjet printing process Ink Dryer Printheads Substrate Motion Reliability is a function of all parts of the process A perfect integration is the key to success 7
The inkjet printing process Inkjet is microfluidics with very small dimensions: Droplet size of some pl or smaller Different pysical behavior: surface tension, capillary forces, laminar flow are dominant Micro fluidic material deposition systems are a key enabler for nanotechnology 8
Inkjet is a sophisticated technology Print result depends on various properties: Print head properties Ink properties Substrate properties Curing / drying properties 9
Ink Rheological properties Drop formation controlled by rheology, surface tension and viscoelasticity Complex interplay of chemical functionalities, polymer structure, particle size and shape Dispersion of particles Tendency to agglomerate Surface tension of ink relative to surface energy of substrate controls behaviour of ink drops on substrate 10
Print head Print head resolution (Drop volume, grey scale capability) Jet straightness Print head alignment, system configuration (number of Print heads / nozzles) Firing parameters Nozzle reliability Maintenance requirements 11
Curing / Drying Curing/drying time often restricts print speed Curing delay has an important influence LED-technology for UV-inks just at a beginning E-Beam not yet an option IR / NIR for solvent an water based inks 12
Substrate Surface tension Absorbency Surface roughness Pretreatment is very indispensable (Flame, Plasma, Corona) 13
UV-LED curing unit 14
UV-LED advantages No IR radiation and minimal heat transfer to the substrate LED s are more compact, matrix design enables easy application configuration LED s operate on low voltages making them electrically simpler and safer No shutters instant on /off Consistent UV output over the operating life UV-LED s offer uniform radiation across the exposure width 15
UV-LED advantages First generation of UV-LED s emit no harmful UVC and no ozone extraction UV LED sources do not contain toxic heavy metals (as mercury arc lamps) Longer life expectancy (10 000-40 000 hours compared to 1 000-2 000 hours of arc lamps) LED light is more directional and will not lead to curing inks on the nozzle plate Prices will drop after the market entrance 16
Advantages of inkjet Higher flexibility Allows economically smaller batches Faster product design introductions New functionality 17
Disadvantages of inkjet Quality depends on the substrate Curing / drying time may restricts print speed High prices of inkjet inks Ink consumption Reliability (print head, ink) Durability 18
Development of inkjet market Worldwide inkjet market in Bn $ 30 25 20 15 10 5 Beschriften Marking and coding SOHO Industrial Large format color business 0 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 Source: Industry trade and market organizations, Pivotal Resources 19
The next wave: functional printing Source: Xennia Technology Ltd, 20 th Annual Ink Jet Printing Conference, Las Vegas, USA, Feb 2011 20
Current Technology New Bern University of Applied Sciences Inkjet applications of the future Current research activities of the institute Current Market New Source: Dimatix, 17th Annual European Ink Jet Printing Conference, Barcelona, Nov. 2009 21
Relief printing Printing Samples Packaging Printing Life Science Braille printer Printing of cups Feeder-unit for 24 microbioreactors 22
Functional printing Printed products are built-up drop by drop Advanced chemistry means competitive costs Higher productivity / lower cost, (Mass) Customization Faster product design introductions Environmental benefits 23
Key application drivers in inkjet Printed electronics Pioneering inkjet as a reliable production process Leveraging technology across diverse applications: Ceramics, textiles, packaging and other product decoration For India actually: Textiles The vibrant textile industry of India will be a key application driver in digital printing on textiles. 24
Requirements for inkjet systems Ability to fine tune morphology of printed products by adjusting ink properties Most applications require 3D structures Able to deposit a wide range of materials Low ink viscosity Recirculating ink technology Low material wastage Applicable to rigid and flexible substrates Array systems (especially fixed arrays, single pass) 25
Latest printhead developments Memjet Tonejet Samba (Dimatix) Prototyp with over 70.000 nozzles, 5 colours on less than 1 mm 0.1-2 pl print head, kostengünstig Resolution: 1 200 dpi, fixed array printing 26
Market size and growth Market Volume Inkjet Growth Ceramics 10 Bn m 2 60 % 100 % Textile 165 Bn $ 1 % 20 % Photovoltaic 30 Bn $ 1 % 20-25% Printed Electronics 0.3 Bn $ 200 % 27
Next wave of inkjet applications With functional printing, new functionality in a wide range of applications has been brought up. This leads to the question: Can we print any material? If yes, what is necessary to do that? 1987: First rapid prototyping process 2007: Begin of rapid manufacturing Inkjet is on the way, to become a major manufacturing process, which will include also new possibilities for mechanical parts. 28
Conclusion New functional applications are new for everybody but print industry has the best conditions to start Applications in functional printing will be the drivers for the development of inkjet in the future. The graphical industry will certainly profit from it, even if they actually have no own driver! Classical print processes are still faster than inkjet, but they are limited in the 3rd dimension and therefor not competitive enough. 29
Vision Rolls-Royce 1920 30
Thank you Bern University of Applied Sciences Prof. Fritz Bircher +41 (0)34 426 43 85 fritz.bircher@bfh.ch www.printtechnology.ch 31