Application Cases

Electrohydrodynamic Printing (EHDP) is an emerging high-precision printing technology that has garnered significant attention since its introduction and has been successively applied in skin tissue engineering, optical devices, and conductive electrodes. The EHDP system mainly includes a nozzle and flow drive system, a high-voltage system, a high-speed camera and observation system, and a moving platform. When the nozzle needs to eject ink, a high voltage V is applied between the nozzle tip and the substrate, causing the ink at the nozzle tip to form a conical jet under the action of the electric field, completing the ejection. The key to the technology lies in applying a high voltage between the nozzle tip and the substrate to form an electric field.

ATA-7000 Series High-Voltage Amplifier from Aigtek can provide an AC voltage of up to 20kVpp, which can be applied between the nozzle tip and the substrate to generate an electric field and create an experimental environment. This high-voltage amplifier can also output DC high voltage, making it suitable for a wide range of jetting experimental applications.

Experiment Name: Electrohydrodynamic 3D Printing

Experiment Principle: When a suitable flow rate Q is applied to the nozzle and a high voltage V is applied between the nozzle tip and the substrate, the ink at the nozzle tip will form a conical jet under the action of the electric field. This conical structure is also known as the Taylor cone. The elongated jet will move in the direction of the electric field force and will break into small droplets due to the different densities of the liquid in the jet. The droplets will eventually deposit on the functional substrate.

Testing Equipment: High-voltage amplifier, function generator, single-frequency laser interferometer, photodetector, Redpitaya signal processing board, oscilloscope, etc.

Figure: Block Diagram of the Experimental System

Experiment Process:

Figure: Photograph of the Experimental Setup

The function generator produces a signal that is input into the high-voltage amplifier. The high-voltage amplifier amplifies the input signal, and the amplified voltage is output to the injector and the conductive substrate. The electric field generated by the high voltage between the injector and the conductive substrate causes the liquid droplets to form a Taylor cone. The injector pushes the ink droplets along the direction of the electric field force, and the ink droplets eventually adhere to the substrate surface of the conductive substrate. The horizontal position is equipped with a high-speed camera and a laser light source observation system. The high-speed camera captures the image, and the laser light source provides high-intensity illumination.

Experimental Results:

By applying high voltage to drive the injector and the substrate, an electric field is generated, and the ink forms a Taylor cone through the injector. The high-speed camera can capture the good formation effect of the printed results.

Role of the Power Amplifier: The primary function of the power amplifier is to amplify the small signal from the signal generator to provide a pulse signal with an adjustable duty cycle of 0-2000V for generating an electric field between the injector and the substrate.

High-Voltage Amplifier Recommendation: ATA-7000 Series

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