Preparation and Characterization of Flexible Polymeric Substrates for Printed Electronics

S. Burbine, S. Deshmukh, S.S. Banerjee, E. Keaney, C. Peters, M. Herndon, D. Rockosi, C. Lepont, C. Barry, J. Mead
Department of Plastics Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Lowell,
United States

Keywords: manufacturing, highly-filled polymers, barium strontium titanate, low-density polyethylene, printed electronic

Summary:

Preparation and Characterization of Flexible Polymeric Substrates for Printed Electronics Stephen Burbine1, Shruti Deshmukh1, Shib Shankar Banerjee1, Erin Keaney1, Christopher Peters2, Mary Herndon2, Derrick Rockosi2, Claire Lepont1, Carol Barry1 and Joey Mead1* 1Nanomanufacturing Center, Department of Plastics Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 1 University Avenue, Lowell, MA 01854 2Raytheon Company, Advanced Materials Laboratory, Integrated Defense Systems, Andover, MA 01810 USA *Joey_Mead@uml.edu Abstract: Manufacturing highly-filled polymeric systems offer potential for novel substrate for flexible hybrid electronics applications. In this work, the continuous compounding and sheet extrusion of highly-filled polymer systems, and the roll-to-roll printing of these substrates for printed electronic applications were investigated to identify the limitations of generic polymer and standard processing equipment in this highly filled sheet extrusion process. The substrate was prepared from low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and a ferroelectric filler, barium strontium titanate (BST). The role of the ferroelectric filler is to enhance the electrical properties of the substrate, which are essential for printed electronics. The use of a ferroelectric filler allows for tailoring of the dielectric constant by the filler loading and applied bias, which gives the substrate tunability. A two-pass method for melt compounding the BST filler into LDPE matrix was developed. The first pass of the compounding process was optimized for compounding the material in twin screw extruder (TSE) and the rest of the BST was compounded in a quad screw extruder (QSE). The consistency of the filler loading, the filler dispersion, and the stability of the extrusion and printing process were discussed. Key words: Manufacturing, Highly-filled polymers, Barium strontium titanate, Low-density Polyethylene, Printed electronic