Carol's paper in Advanced Electronic Materials

Congrats on Carol’s paper in Advanced Electronic Materials!

Paper title: Polycaprolactone-Based Zinc Ink for High Conductivity Transient Printed Electronics and Antennas

Abstract: Distributed sensors and electronics can be used in agriculture to optimize crop management and improve environmental outcomes. Electronic devices in these outdoor spaces require medium to long range (>1m) wireless communication of data over several weeks or months, which in turn requires high conductivity (1 × 105 Sm−1) antennas. Printed bioinert or ecoresorbable conductors, comprising carbon, magnesium, or zinc fillers, typically exhibit conductivity on the order of 10–1000 Sm−1 and lifetimes from a few hours to a few days. A print-based fabrication process for chemically treated zinc traces, which achieves conductivity of up to 6 × 105 Sm−1 is reported here. The ink formulation uses a non-water-soluble soil biodegradable polycaprolactone binder. The ink and printing processes reported here led to stable conductive traces that are used in ultra high frequency radio frequency identification (UHF-RFID) folded dipole antennas operating at 915 MHz. The conductivity of the printed traces is maintained for over 70 days in ambient environments when traces are protected by a biodegradable beeswax encapsulation layer.

Publication:

1. 
   Polycaprolactone-Based Zinc Ink for High Conductivity Transient Printed Electronics and Antennas Carol L. Baumbauer, Anupam Gopalakrishnan, Madhur Atreya, Gregory L. Whiting, and Ana C. Arias Advanced Electronic Materials, 2024 , . [Abstract] [Bibtex] [PDF]

   Distributed sensors and electronics can be used in agriculture to optimize crop management and improve environmental outcomes. Electronic devices in these outdoor spaces require medium to long range (>1m) wireless communication of data over several weeks or months, which in turn requires high conductivity (1 × 105 Sm−1) antennas. Printed bioinert or ecoresorbable conductors, comprising carbon, magnesium, or zinc fillers, typically exhibit conductivity on the order of 10–1000 Sm−1 and lifetimes from a few hours to a few days. A print-based fabrication process for chemically treated zinc traces, which achieves conductivity of up to 6 × 105 Sm−1 is reported here. The ink formulation uses a non-water-soluble soil biodegradable polycaprolactone binder. The ink and printing processes reported here led to stable conductive traces that are used in ultra high frequency radio frequency identification (UHF-RFID) folded dipole antennas operating at 915 MHz. The conductivity of the printed traces is maintained for over 70 days in ambient environments when traces are protected by a biodegradable beeswax encapsulation layer.

   @article{Carol_Zinc, author = {Baumbauer, Carol L. and Gopalakrishnan, Anupam and Atreya, Madhur and Whiting, Gregory L. and Arias, Ana C.}, title = {Polycaprolactone-Based Zinc Ink for High Conductivity Transient Printed Electronics and Antennas}, year = {2024}, doi = {10.1002/aelm.202300658}, publisher = {}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1021/acssensors.3c00630}, journal = {Advanced Electronic Materials}, volume = {}, number = {}, thumbnail = {carol2024Zinc.png}, pdf = {carol2024Zinc.pdf} }