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The fabrication of integrated and three-layer SU-8 nozzles for electrohydrodynamic printing

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Abstract

Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) jet printing can fabricate high resolution micro- and nano-scale lines with low cost and simple procedure. However, less attention has been paid to the fabrication of integrated nozzles with low cost and volume production capacity. In this work, three-layer SU-8 nozzles with slot dimension ranging from 10 to 50 μm were fabricated by ultraviolet photolithography and thermal bonding methods. The influence of the thicknesses (bottom and top layers) on the deformation of SU-8 nozzle was studied by numerical simulation. The results show that the suitable thicknesses should be 60 and 10 μm for bottom and top layer, to ensure the fabrication quality of SU-8 nozzles. Based on the established EHD printing platform, PEO (Polyethylene Oxide) lines with line-width from 750 nm to 8.2 μm can be printed by using the fabricated SU-8 nozzles, indicating the indicating the practicality of developed nozzle fabrication method.

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Acknowledgements

This project is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (nos. 51705198, 51775088), Open Fund of State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection (no. SKLGP2020K020), Open Fund of Education Ministry Key Laboratory of Auxiliary Chemistry and Technology for Chemical Industry (no. KFKT2019-02), Jilin Province Science and Technology Development Plan (no. 20190103063JH), and Jilin Province Science and Technology Project (no. JJKH20200962KJ).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China

    Xue Yang, Wenzheng Wu & Zhifu Yin

  2. State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, China

    Wei Hu & Zhifu Yin

  3. Key Laboratory of Auxiliary Chemistry and Technology for Chemical Industry, Ministry of Education, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, 710021, China

    Lu Li

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  1. Xue Yang
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  2. Wei Hu
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  3. Wenzheng Wu
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  4. Zhifu Yin
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  5. Lu Li
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Correspondence to Wenzheng Wu or Zhifu Yin.

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Yang, X., Hu, W., Wu, W. et al. The fabrication of integrated and three-layer SU-8 nozzles for electrohydrodynamic printing. Microfluid Nanofluid 24, 63 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-020-02358-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-020-02358-y

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