Application Cases

Experiment Title: Development of a Desktop Printing Platform and Its Software Design

Testing Purpose:The feasibility of a piezoelectric-microfluidic nozzle was verified on a lab-built electrohydrodynamic (EHD) printing prototype. However, during the experiment, it was found that the experimental platform had low motion accuracy, which could not ensure the precise positioning of ink droplets. Additionally, the insufficient magnification of the observation camera made it difficult to clearly see the exact spacing between the nozzle and the substrate, thereby affecting the printing results. Therefore, it is necessary to have more advanced EHD printing equipment to verify the performance and specifications of the piezoelectric-microfluidic nozzle.

Testing Equipment:High Voltage Amplifier, Function Generator, Precision Flow Pump, Observation Camera, Nozzle, etc.

Experiment Process:

Figure 1: Desktop Electrohydrodynamic Printing Platform: (a) Overall Appearance of the Electrohydrodynamic Printing Platform, (b) Hardware Composition of the Electrohydrodynamic Printing Platform

The hardware of the desktop electrohydrodynamic printing platform can be divided into different functional modules, including the motion system, vision system, nozzle system, and control system, as shown in Figure 1(b).

1. Nozzle System:The nozzle is a core component of a printing device, and this is also true for EHD printing equipment. The nozzle system of the desktop EHD printing platform is a composite system, including an ink supply module, a voltage driving module, and a nozzle module, with the specific functions of each module as follows:

• Nozzle Module: Consisting of a 1mL syringe as the ink reservoir and a dispensing needle, it can be used to achieve dot printing and fiber spinning processes.

• Ink Supply Module: The ink supply module is responsible for supplying ink in the printing device. During use, the nozzle module is clamped onto the actuator of the precision flow pump. When the precision flow pump is activated, the plunger on the pump pushes the piston of the nozzle module, thereby supplying the solution. The precision flow pump can be controlled by the upper computer to set the flow rate and control the fast advance and retreat of the nozzle module.

• Voltage Module: The voltage module in the desktop EHD printing platform is used to apply a high voltage between the nozzle and the substrate, creating a stable electrostatic field to achieve EHD printing. The voltage module consists of a function generator and a high voltage amplifier. The function generator serves as the signal source, with its output waveform serving as the input to the high voltage amplifier. The function generator can produce DC, square waves, sine waves, and triangle waves. The shape of the output waveform can be adjusted by modifying parameters such as amplitude, frequency, and duty cycle. The amplification factor of the high voltage amplifier is 1000 times. With the function generator outputting a waveform signal of 0-5V, an input to the high voltage amplifier can result in a high voltage of 0-5000V, which meets the voltage requirements for EHD printing.

2. Motion System:The motion system of the desktop EHD printing platform includes two high-precision linear motors for the X and Y axes and a manual slide table for the Z axis. The positioning accuracy of the linear motor is 5μm, and the repeatability accuracy is 2μm, which can meet the experimental requirements of the piezoelectric-microfluidic nozzle. The X and Y motors, controlled by the controller, can execute linear interpolation and second-order spline curve interpolation commands, thus enabling various motion trajectories. The ink supply module of the nozzle system is fixed together with the Z-axis, and the distance between the nozzle and the substrate is adjusted manually via the slide table.

3. Vision System:The vision system is an essential part of the printing device, allowing for dynamic observation of the nozzle's condition and the flight state of ink droplets during the jetting process. The vision system of the desktop EHD printing platform consists of a jet observation camera and a positioning observation camera.

4. Control System:The control system of the desktop EHD printing platform includes the control circuitry and motor controller. The motor controller communicates with the upper computer via a WLAN port.

Experimental Results:A highly integrated desktop EHD printing software system was developed in the experiment. The hardware composition of the desktop EHD printing platform was introduced in detail, and each specification was analyzed to verify that the hardware specifications meet the experimental requirements of the piezoelectric-microfluidic nozzle.

High Voltage Amplifier Recommendation: ATA-7050

Figure: Specifications of the ATA-7050 High Voltage Amplifier

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