Combination of piezoelectric printing and E-jet for microfabrication

A novel method of nano-patterning, based on combining the principles of piezoelectric inkjet printing and E-jetting to form free-standing biopolymer fibers, is proposed. Large electric fields have been utilized in the formation of continuous fibers through E-jetting but forming discontinuous, positioned fibers is new to the field. Piezoelectric inkjet printing offers clean break-offs and reproducible positioning, which E-jetting in micro-drip mode lacks. Experimental setups are designed consisting of a charging plate-electrode ring setup, piezoelectric inkjet printing and an Einzel lens component. The experiments conducted to investigate the viability of this method using polyethylene oxide (PEO). Experiments were conducted to optimize parameters such as the Einzel lens' dimensions, the solution concentration and piezoelectric printhead driver parameters. It is recommended that a smaller ring radius, larger ring length and smaller separation distance between rings for the Einzel lens should be strived for within the boundaries of the limitations.