Parametric and feasibility study of flexographic printing process for R2R printed electronics

Abstract

Flexography is most commonly used for printing on non-porous substrates for food packaging. Recent technological advancement in flexographic printing plate production has allow flexography to catch up with other R2R processes such as gravure printing in the printed electronics field. However, there are a lot of parameters involved in flexography that can affect the print quality. This research attempted to achieve finer line printing as compared to the current 45-100µm printed line width range of flexography by studying and manipulating these parameters.

In this research, a 2k design of experiment was conducted to study the effect and interaction of various parameters such as anilox volume, anilox force and printing force on the printed line width. After identifying the key parameter using the 2k design of experiment, another in-depth study of the key parameter will be conducted to further investigate how printed line width was affected.

As fine solid printed lines were achieved with graphic ink, this research also attempted to utilize particle-free conductive ink in achieving fine solid conductive printed lines.