NIMSA Student Seminar Series

Lunch will be provided. Presentations: 1) "A Microfluidic Nozzle Array for Vapor Jet Printing of Organic Light Emitting Diodes," by Greg McGraw, 2)"Multifunctional CNT Microstructures by Capillary Forming," by Sameh Tawfick.
1) Patterning of organic electroluminescent materials is a major challenge in the fabrication of organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays and lighting. Direct patterning of organic thin films by Organic Vapor Jet Printing (OVJP) promises to meet this challenge. OVJP directs jets of vaporized organic material onto a substrate for simultaneous thin film growth and pattern generation. A novel multi-nozzle print head was developed to realize high printing resolution while permitting co-deposition of host and dopant mixtures.

2) We present a new methodology for design and construction of 3D microarchitectures of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), whereby lithographically defined patterns of vertically aligned CNTs are transformed into 3D geometries by self-directed capillary action initiated by liquid condensation. These unique CNT shapes are preserved after subsequent polymer infiltration, creating 3D composite structures having elastic moduli 10-fold higher than PMMA and SU-8. Finally, mechano-chemical sensors and actuators are made by fabrication of 3D CNT structures on micro-patterned electrodes, followed by self-directed infiltration with hydrogels.