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Screen-printable carbon-based inks are available in a range of carbon morphologies and concentrations, resulting in various rheological profiles. There are challenges in obtaining a good print when high loading and elasticity functional inks are used, with a trade-off often required between functionality and printability. There is a limited understanding of how ink rheology influences the ink deposition mechanism during screen-printing, which then affects the print topography and therefore electrical performance. High speed imaging was used with a screen-printing simulation apparatus to investigate the effect of viscosity of a graphite and carbon-black ink at various levels of solvent dilution on the deposition mechanisms occurring during screen-printing. With little dilution, the greater relative volume of carbon in the ink resulted in a greater tendency towards elastic behavior than at higher dilutions. During the screen-printing process this led to the ink splitting into filaments while remaining in contact with both the mesh and substrate simultaneously over a greater horizonal length. The location of separating filaments corresponded with localized film thickness increases in the print, which led to a higher surface roughness (Sz). This method could be used to make appropriate adjustments to ink rheology to overcome print defects related to poor ink separation.
Potts et al. (Wed,) studied this question.