In 2024, the main team achieved flexible electronic additive manufacturing, from Peking University Direct Expo to Zhejiang University Baoyan 5-person prestigious school for further education

Tech 2023-10-20 07:40:42 Source: Network

Flexible wearable electronic products that can be bent and folded are becoming a new favorite in the consumer electronics industry. "Alloy" and "ink", two seemingly incompatible things, have been transformed into "electronic ink" through additive manufacturing similar to 3D printing, and applied to the production process of flexible electronic products

Flexible wearable electronic products that can be bent and folded are becoming a new favorite in the consumer electronics industry. "Alloy" and "ink", two seemingly incompatible things, have been transformed into "electronic ink" through additive manufacturing similar to 3D printing, and applied to the production process of flexible electronic products. At East China University of Technology, there is a undergraduate team mainly composed of 2024 graduates, called "Alloy Ink".

During the "Golden Nine Silver Ten" employment season, among the six fresh students in the team, one directly becomes a Meituan Algorithm Engineer, while the other five, from Peking University to Zhejiang University, will continue their studies at prestigious universities. Recently, just after learning about receiving a national scholarship, Qian Sheng, a junior member of the Huali team, sent a WeChat message to Teacher Zhang Zhen, saying, "Thank you to Teacher Zhang and his senior for your guidance and companionship, which has enabled me to achieve previously unimaginable honors.

When many seniors were facing graduation, what made the younger student "dare not think" was that, as the project leader, he led the team of "Fusion Technology - FPCB Additive Manufacturing Leader" to win the gold medal of the ninth "Internet plus" competition in Shanghai, and as a core member, he won the special prize of the 18th "Challenge Cup" Shanghai Undergraduate Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Works Competition.

The team participated in the 18th "Challenge Cup" Shanghai College Students' Extracurricular Academic and Technological Works Competition.

In fact, in the student science and technology innovation team led by Zhang Zhen, a young teacher at Huali University of Physics, "excellence" has become a common phenomenon: in just four years, a total of 8 students have obtained qualifications for direct admission to Peking University, as well as Peking University, Zhejiang University, Tongji University, Central South University, and other universities. Three students have entered the School of Materials Science and Technology at our university to pursue further studies... What kind of magic wand has transformed these "post-00s" into "science and technology innovation elites"?

Group photo of some team members: Zeng Jiantao (signed with Meituan), Fan Shichang (Baoyan Peking University), Tang Jiuze (Zhibo Peking University), and Yang Yang (Baoyan Central South University).

Alloy Ink Changing Track

In 2019, after Dr. Zhang Zhen graduated and joined Huali, he began guiding students in scientific and technological research, focusing on the field of flexible electronic additive manufacturing. The traditional method of preparing flexible circuits is "reduced material manufacturing", which involves etching flexible copper clad plates to prepare flexible circuits. There are more than 10 processes before and after, which not only last for a week, but also have a raw material utilization rate of less than 10%, resulting in serious pollution and waste. So, can circuits be "printed" on the substrate like printing? Teacher Zhang Zhen led the team to choose this path of "flexible electronic additive manufacturing".

Teacher Zhang Zhen guides students in conducting experimental research.

However, this new track also has bottlenecks - as a key raw material for the manufacturing of flexible electronic additives, "electronic ink" currently faces defects such as poor conductivity of printed circuits, weak adhesion to substrates, and high sintering temperature that can easily damage flexible substrates, which cannot meet the requirements of industrial applications. The pain point is the starting point of innovation. Teacher Zhang Zhen started guiding students to study how to upgrade flexible electronic intelligent manufacturing. Currently, he has developed this original achievement with excellent comprehensive performance - "alloy ink".

Student team analyzes the printing effect of flexible circuits.

Jiefang Daily, Shangguan News Reporter learned that this ternary composite conductive ink, using tin bismuth alloy microspheres as a metal binder, can be welded to copper and tin microspheres through instantaneous liquid phase diffusion, forming a long-term continuous conductive path. It has the advantages of low sintering temperature, good conductivity, and high precision of direct writing printing, and can be applied in the direct writing production of flexible printed circuit boards (FPCBs), welding and packaging of flexible hybrid electronics Printing and production of electronic components such as flexible sensors.

Based on this series of technologies, the "Alloy Ink" project team has currently applied for 8 invention and utility model patents, as well as 6 software copyrights, and published 4 academic papers. At the same time, on the path of industrialization, the "Alloy Ink" project relies on the research and development achievements of Huali Science and Technology Park to achieve mass production in the kilogram scale through pilot testing. Samples are sent to Shanghai Likai Material Technology Co., Ltd., Xiamen Yinfang New Material Technology Co., Ltd. and other enterprises for testing. It has been successfully applied in the production of flexible hybrid electronic packaging and flexible circuit printing, achieving preliminary cooperation.

Student teams engage in technical exchanges with collaborating enterprises.

Ask for trouble and change your mind

Science and technology innovation practice is about 'asking for trouble', "said Tang Jiuze, a senior student at the School of Physics. The "Tang Xuechang" who led Qian Sheng onto the path of science and technology innovation has been an electronics enthusiast since childhood. When applying for the college entrance examination, he did not hesitate to choose the Optoelectronic Information Science and Engineering major at East China University of Technology.

From the beginning of his freshman year, Tang Jiuze participated in activities such as the "Thursday Innovation Talk" and the "Teacher Student Double Choice Meeting" organized by the school's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education Center. He learned from excellent "innovation and entrepreneurship" projects and competition cases, and met classmates such as Pan Yi, Wang Baoyu, and Guan Xiaotong from the School of Materials Science, School of Business, and School of Art in the school's "Maker Space", forming a college student maker team, Under the guidance of Professor Zhang Zhen, research and transformation of flexible printed electronic materials and devices were carried out.

Tang Jiuze participated in the National Excellent College Student Science and Technology Innovation Forum of Peking University's "Boya Creative Talent".

Starting from the "big innovation" project and taking a path that no one has walked before, it is natural to constantly "endure hardships". Alloy microspheres, as metal binders, play a crucial role in the construction of conductive pathways. In order to improve the metal content and printing performance of "alloy ink", it is necessary to synthesize alloy microspheres with high sphericity and smooth and dense surface. Therefore, the team has tried various methods such as high-temperature melting, high-speed shearing, and electrodeposition, but still cannot obtain satisfactory morphology.

The student team prepares' alloy ink '.

Teacher Zhang Zhen, who always pays attention to the research of classmates, guides everyone to return to the essence of the problem and analyze the nucleation and growth process of crystals together. Inspired by this, students proposed a process for co reduction of tin bismuth crystals, which forms amorphous nanoseeds through mutual interference between different crystals. Through temperature controlled aging, flexible regulation of the size of high sphericity alloy microspheres is achieved. In this way, the conductivity and printing performance of the "alloy ink" filled with this material have been greatly improved. Regarding the success of brainstorming, Tang Jiuze stated, "Summarizing every day and discussing every two days becomes the daily routine of the team. If the process is done well, the results will not be bad

The student team is conducting a pilot study.

Changing majors through the combination of science and art

From a passionate "science and innovation novice" in his freshman year to being able to independently design experiments and publish SCI papers with an impact factor of 8 as a co first author, from being ranked in the middle of the grade in his freshman year to being ranked first in his major and winning a national award in his third year, he has brought about previously unimaginable honors, which also happened to Fan Shichang, a senior student in the School of Physics.

Teacher Zhang said that only by staying with the project long enough can I delve deeper into the problem and come up with unique solutions. Over two years of dedicated dedication have made me more aware of the essence of the project and the methods of professional learning, "said Fan Shichang, who has just obtained the qualification to graduate school at Peking University.

Student teams conduct academic discussions.

For Guan Xiaotong, a senior student at the Art College, this interdisciplinary science and technology innovation journey has brought her another charm. In the team, her task is to better integrate project technology into application scenarios and present the technology more clearly to the audience. She also fulfilled her trust and made important contributions to the team's acquisition of multiple patents. This exploration of integrating 'design+technology' has sparked my interest in scientific research and allowed me to transition from an art degree to an engineering degree at Zhejiang University. In the future, I will have a deeper understanding of relevant knowledge in the field and further expand my academic horizons, "said Guan Xiaotong.

We will continue to focus on our professional knowledge, regard innovation and entrepreneurship as a habit, a spiritual pursuit, and a way of life, and strive to grow into innovative and versatile talents. "Tang Jiuze, who is now directly affiliated with Peking University, said of the future.

Image source: Interviewed universities

Explanation: The student team conducts experimental scheme argumentation.

Source: Author: Xu Ruizhe, Xu Zhou

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