Fabrication of PEDOT: PSS conductive patterns on photo paper substrate through electro-hydrodynamic jet printing process

Conductive polymers such as PEDOT: PSS have gained popularity in sensor fabrication and integration. The objective of current work is to investigate the effects of process parameters on the final quality of conductive patterns fabricated through electro-hydrodynamic (EHD) jet printing. Solutions of different concentration of PEDOT: PSS in ethylene glycol and isopropyl alcohol were prepared for printing purpose. Effects of operating parameters such as voltage, frequency, pressure and printing speed on quality of printing patterns were experimentally investigated. Solution with higher concentration of PEDOT: PSS in ethylene glycol has shown better jetting stability even at higher frequencies and printing speeds. Increasing the frequency at high printing speed reduced the size of pattern width. Similarly, higher pulse voltage in the working envelope also reduced the pattern size. However, increasing the pressure increased the size of width of pattern. A drastic decrease in the pattern width was observed with increase in printing speed. A pattern width of approximately 19.6 μm was produced at 500 Hz of frequency and 2000 mm/min of printing speed, the electrical resistance of which is 1.03 × 106 Ω/mm. Finally, these results were compared with the same concentration of PEDOT: PSS in isopropyl alcohol reported in previous studies. Keywords: Electro-hydrodynamic (EHD) jet printing, PEDOT: PSS, Photo paper substrate, Pattern width, Conductive patterns