Cheap and Useful 3D Printed Electronics

Shopping trends change from time to time while consumers continue to search for more affordable products with better functionality and specs. Researchers and developers around the world continue to improve company products while lessening the cost of producing these materials.

Gadgets like smartphones, LED lights, tablets and solar cells are already part of the mainstream, and it is not going to change anytime soon. Companies that are involved in this industry must always keep a competitive edge against other manufacturers.

RMIT and CSIRO

The researchers over at these organizations might just found a way of using the method of light-based printing of several electronic components. Using the inkjet and a 3D printer both organizations can hastily and cheaply produce this circuitry. The process involves drawing the electric circuit with a formulated ink and then it’s get printed with a very powerful flash of light. Once the flash of light touches the printed electronic material, the physical properties, and the chemical will instantly transform from an electrically insulated to an electrically conductive material.

As of now, the process is still under embedding a flexible and foldable material which can have better chances of entering the wearables market. For instance, manufacturers can create a solar cell that can be stored inside a backpack or laptop.

Enrico Della Gaspera, the brains behind the whole project, has already created a unique way of manufacturing futuristic circuitry and in the process, created a cheaper way to produce these materials. The process does not involve the traditional high temperatures which frequently happens in manufacturing electronics. Gaspera managed to lower the cost of the materials and less electricity extreme production environments, and more can be produced with less consumption. This can save not only the cost of production but lessens the pollution it emits in the environment.

After venturing in the flexible and low-cost 3D printing approach by the manufacturers of circuitry, the technology may also take on the modern technology in regions that are underdeveloped. These inexpensive solar energies are most needed in places in the world where technology is economically out of reach. The innovation must reach these areas to improve the way of life and morale. Innovations like these should inspire others to share and exploit every option to improve the production of materials or a means of producing traditional materials alternatively.

Video/Images credit: Credit: Fresh Science

Enrico Della Gaspera has been in the research of the fabrication of cheap solar cell for a long time now, and it is not a surprise that he was able to present this research at the Fresh Science. Fresh Science is an Australian national program that helps demonstrates the importance of news innovation in the world of academia.

There is still little information about the process especially in the part of how the 3D printer can deposit the ink. People can only speculate that there are only several printers that can do this process namely a poly jet and an FDM technology. More people are now keeping a watchful eye for these researchers.