Printing and curing silver conductive ink tracks from modified on-shelf inkjet printer on fabric

• Main Authors: Khirotdin, Rd Khairilhijra', Zakaria, Danieal A., Mohadhir, Munirah
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: IJENS 2017
• Subjects: TS Manufactures; TS155-194 Production management. Operations management
• Online Access: http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/4183/1/AJ%202017%20%28575%29.pdf; http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/4183/
• Institution: Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

Inkjet printing has been seen promising in printing conductive inks on variety of substrates other than fabrics and it should be expanded to fabrics since fabrics with integrated electrical features able to form intelligent articles. This study presents the investigation on printing and curing of silver conductive inks track from modified on-shelf inkjet printer on fabric. Epson printer is selected for modification which conventional paper feeding concept is replaced with platform stage. The viscosity of the conductive ink is adjusted accordingly to prevent clogging. Variation of processing parameters including printing speed, deposition height, curing temperature and time were investigated and measurement of the dimensional accuracy of the printed pattern as well as mechanical and electrical test are performed and analyzed. The results obtained were as expected which the thickness of the ink tracks were very thin in the sub-micron range and multiple printing selection with suitable curing time and temperature are desired to generate ink tracks with compatible adhesion to the substrates and conductivity. Sample with low speed parameter and 0.15 mm deposition height resulted in dimension which is close enough to the targeted dimension. The used of modified on-shelf inkjet printer and DLP projector with hot plate are proven feasible to print and cure conductive ink tracks on fabrics.