Subventions et des contributions :

Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier (2017-2018 à 2018-2019).

Voltera Inc. sells an innovative printed-circuit-board prototyping system called the V-One that printsx000D
conductive inks onto a variety of substrates to make electronic devices, as opposed to the traditional method ofx000D
photolithography and chemical etching of a metallized substrate. This additive manufacturing approach alsox000D
allows the V-One to dispense other rheologically complex materials, including the diverse set of novelx000D
materials currently in development for printed electronics (PE). While these materials enable new applicationsx000D
and markets with high potential for growth (wearable devices, printed batteries, structural electronics, etc.),x000D
companies seeking to create PE products must risk significant investment in large-area manufacturing methodsx000D
before they are able to begin any development. The Voltera V-One is uniquely positioned in this regard tox000D
enable low-risk, low-cost prototyping of PE by collaborating with PE materials producers to tailor theirx000D
rheology for dispensing - however, this formulation process is currently costly and inefficient, requiring lengthyx000D
trial-and-error experimentation based on qualitative observations. This is because there is currently nox000D
established test and characterization method which can quantify the rheological properties of PE materials inx000D
terms of their effect on positive-displacement dispensing characteristics, requiring qualitative assessments inx000D
processing conditions, rather than at lab-scale. Such a test and characterization method is necessary for Volterax000D
Inc. to fully support increasingly diverse PE materials, as manufacturers continue to heavily invest in theirx000D
production and development. This work seeks to develop such a test method, by characterizing the linear andx000D
nonlinear viscoelastic properties of PE materials in conditions representative of positive-displacementx000D
dispensing using state-of-the art equipment and expertise at the University of Guelph. These test methods willx000D
allow Voltera Inc. to predict the dispensing behaviour of PE materials at lab scale with commonly availablex000D
rheometry equipment, thereby drastically accelerating the formulation process, and making these materialsx000D
widely accessible to companies in Canada and abroad.