Inkjet Printing of Functional Electronic Memory Cells: A Step Forward to Green Electronics

Nowadays, the environmental issues surrounding the production of electronics, from the perspectives of both the materials used and the manufacturing process, are of major concern. The usage, storage, disposal protocol and volume of waste material continue to increase the environmental footprint of o...

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Main Authors: Iulia Salaoru, Salah Maswoud, Shashi Paul
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-06-01
Series:Micromachines
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/10/6/417
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author Iulia Salaoru
Salah Maswoud
Shashi Paul
author_facet Iulia Salaoru
Salah Maswoud
Shashi Paul
author_sort Iulia Salaoru
collection DOAJ
description Nowadays, the environmental issues surrounding the production of electronics, from the perspectives of both the materials used and the manufacturing process, are of major concern. The usage, storage, disposal protocol and volume of waste material continue to increase the environmental footprint of our increasingly “throw away society”. Almost ironically, society is increasingly involved in pollution prevention, resource consumption issues and post-consumer waste management. Clearly, a dichotomy between environmentally aware usage and consumerism exists. The current technology used to manufacture functional materials and electronic devices requires high temperatures for material deposition processes, which results in the generation of harmful chemicals and radiation. With such issues in mind, it is imperative to explore new electronic functional materials and new manufacturing pathways. Here, we explore the potential of additive layer manufacturing, inkjet printing technology which provides an innovative manufacturing pathway for functional materials (metal nanoparticles and polymers), and explore a fully printed two terminal electronic memory cell. In this work, inkjetable materials (silver (Ag) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)) were first printed by a piezoelectric Epson Stylus P50 inkjet printer as stand-alone layers, and secondly as part of a metal (Ag)/active layer (PEDOT:PSS)/metal (Ag) crossbar architecture. The quality of the individual multi-layers of the printed Ag and PEDOT:PSS was first evaluated via optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Furthermore, an electrical characterisation of the printed memory elements was performed using an HP4140B picoammeter.
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spelling doaj.art-e3f97093332f4c8aad5e5bee8ad5ea602022-12-21T23:57:38ZengMDPI AGMicromachines2072-666X2019-06-0110641710.3390/mi10060417mi10060417Inkjet Printing of Functional Electronic Memory Cells: A Step Forward to Green ElectronicsIulia Salaoru0Salah Maswoud1Shashi Paul2Emerging Technologies Research Centre, De Montfort University, Hawthorn Building, The Gateway, Leicester LE1 9BH, UKEmerging Technologies Research Centre, De Montfort University, Hawthorn Building, The Gateway, Leicester LE1 9BH, UKEmerging Technologies Research Centre, De Montfort University, Hawthorn Building, The Gateway, Leicester LE1 9BH, UKNowadays, the environmental issues surrounding the production of electronics, from the perspectives of both the materials used and the manufacturing process, are of major concern. The usage, storage, disposal protocol and volume of waste material continue to increase the environmental footprint of our increasingly “throw away society”. Almost ironically, society is increasingly involved in pollution prevention, resource consumption issues and post-consumer waste management. Clearly, a dichotomy between environmentally aware usage and consumerism exists. The current technology used to manufacture functional materials and electronic devices requires high temperatures for material deposition processes, which results in the generation of harmful chemicals and radiation. With such issues in mind, it is imperative to explore new electronic functional materials and new manufacturing pathways. Here, we explore the potential of additive layer manufacturing, inkjet printing technology which provides an innovative manufacturing pathway for functional materials (metal nanoparticles and polymers), and explore a fully printed two terminal electronic memory cell. In this work, inkjetable materials (silver (Ag) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)) were first printed by a piezoelectric Epson Stylus P50 inkjet printer as stand-alone layers, and secondly as part of a metal (Ag)/active layer (PEDOT:PSS)/metal (Ag) crossbar architecture. The quality of the individual multi-layers of the printed Ag and PEDOT:PSS was first evaluated via optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Furthermore, an electrical characterisation of the printed memory elements was performed using an HP4140B picoammeter.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/10/6/417inkjetprintingfunctional materialssilverPEDOT:PSSmemory cellsgreen processes
spellingShingle Iulia Salaoru
Salah Maswoud
Shashi Paul
Inkjet Printing of Functional Electronic Memory Cells: A Step Forward to Green Electronics
Micromachines
inkjet
printing
functional materials
silver
PEDOT:PSS
memory cells
green processes
title Inkjet Printing of Functional Electronic Memory Cells: A Step Forward to Green Electronics
title_full Inkjet Printing of Functional Electronic Memory Cells: A Step Forward to Green Electronics
title_fullStr Inkjet Printing of Functional Electronic Memory Cells: A Step Forward to Green Electronics
title_full_unstemmed Inkjet Printing of Functional Electronic Memory Cells: A Step Forward to Green Electronics
title_short Inkjet Printing of Functional Electronic Memory Cells: A Step Forward to Green Electronics
title_sort inkjet printing of functional electronic memory cells a step forward to green electronics
topic inkjet
printing
functional materials
silver
PEDOT:PSS
memory cells
green processes
url https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/10/6/417
work_keys_str_mv AT iuliasalaoru inkjetprintingoffunctionalelectronicmemorycellsastepforwardtogreenelectronics
AT salahmaswoud inkjetprintingoffunctionalelectronicmemorycellsastepforwardtogreenelectronics
AT shashipaul inkjetprintingoffunctionalelectronicmemorycellsastepforwardtogreenelectronics