Single-Step Plasma Jet Material Deposition

There is a disconnect between our ever-increasing demand for cheaper higher density electronic consumer devices with availability of fabrication materials. Future manufacturing approaches must be frugal with material and energy consumption by employing smarter processing approaches. The construction of many functional electronic devices require layered materials with defined physicochemical properties deposited on low value substrates with exquisite precision. Materials deposition is a huge industry, encompassing chemical vapour deposition (CVD), sputtering, spraying and other physical deposition. However, as more complex consumer devices are developed; new manufacturing methodologies must also be developed to support this progress. In the proposed work, we aim to develop a new energy efficient approach for printing multiple materials using an atmospheric pressure plasma jet.

Metal printing is set to be worth £10.8 billion by 2023 and is set to increase over the next decades. This innovation in manufacturing has the potential to impact on this substantial market opportunity. Using plasma jets at atmospheric pressure, has the potential to disrupt the current technology for directed metal writing on thermally sensitive substrates. The advantages of this approach are: resulting deposit adhesion on practically any surface (including PTFE, glass, polyimide which have been demonstrated), simplicity of material precursors, surface patterning with tens of micron resolution and modest energy consumption. This process is not going to compete with microelectronics fabrication, but has the potential to transform the way interconnects between electronic components are achieved, free of solder. The objective of this proposal is to push the technology to discover other areas that this method could impact positively and improve on the current manufacturing approaches. Specifically, we will focus on non-zero valent materials for high value devices.

Enterprise: The firm focus of this work is to develop new manufacturing processes which are not currently available. The deposition of materials for different applications sometimes require very specific manufacturing solutions. We have identified several areas which I believe could benefit from this technology which we intend to explore. To increase the chance of commercialisation we have partnered with Space Foundry Inc, USA, who are the world leaders in plasma jet printing equipment. We have put in place a very close working collaboration, a robust assessment method to determine the value for each material deposition process investigated and an efficient mechanism for knowledge transfer.

Knowledge: The work describes a new method for materials processing which utilises atmospheric pressure plasma jet, which so far is not explored. We have to date patented our initial work, with this proposal we wish to investigate the chemistry, electrochemistry and physics of the process. This is new work and is valuable to the academic community. It represents a tremendously interesting area of redox chemistry and interaction of plasma at a solid surface. As this project progresses we will build relationships with other plasma groups in the UK, Europe and USA.

Public engagement: Using plasmas lends itself to public engagement. A realistic outreach activity would be to propose a display at the Royal Society exhibition on "how to build a plasma gun". The PDRA will receive high level training from Royal Society. We will develop demonstration lectures for schools and the wider community events such as "pint of science".

People: The project will provide a unique opportunity for training for PDRA in very different aspects of experimental physical chemistry, in an internationally leading research department. In addition, UCL offers several courses aimed at developing project and non-project specific transferable skills.

Economy and Society: Humans are the only species that have lived on the earth to make poor survival decisions. We make demands on our mineral and energy reserves with little regard of future sustainability. It is a duty to respect and value all resources we use to manufacture high value products. We need smart methodologies to process and manufacture all the materials in a responsible way. This proposal will deliver innovative manufacturing approaches for the deposition of functional materials on surfaces.