Screen Printing of Functional Materials and Sensors 

Screen printing is a highly versatile printing process, capable of producing a variety of products including aerials, sensors, printed circuit boards as well as graphics applications. This project will look into the effect of a range of process parameters on a variety of inks and screens in order develop predictive methods and establish best practises.

The objectives can be split up into three main parts:

i.  to establish the interaction of print process parameters on resolution, surface roughness and registration for a range of complex inks on a variety of screens.

ii.  to establish the impact of the screen printing process on the orientation and alignment of particles in the print.

iii.  to establish the impact of curing and gelling on the printed films, particularly on slumping, surface roughness and particle orientation.

Although he main focus of the project will be on the use of functional inks, it will also aim to benefit the traditional applications, such as graphic inks, by improving the quality and predictability of the process.