Webinar recap: Printing Wearable Electronics

In our latest webinar, we dove into the process of printing wearable devices with NOVA on Celanese Intexar™ TE-11C thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) film using Celanese Intexar™ PE874, a stretchable silver conductive ink.

Webinar highlights

Live demonstration of ink calibration

We kicked off the webinar with a brief overview of NOVA, Voltera’s material dispensing system. Our Support Lead, Nathan Shinkar, performed a live demonstration of NOVA’s calibration process, explaining how to fine-tune advanced parameters such as trace width, print height, and nozzle temperature to achieve optimal results.

Live demonstration of dispensing inks

Next, we demonstrated how to dispense materials once the substrate is secured on NOVA’s vacuum table. We discussed methods for securing both flexible and rigid substrates. As with the calibration step, print settings can be adjusted based on your ink and substrate choices within the software. The actual printing of the design took approximately five minutes.

Tips and tricks

As highlighted during the webinar, it’s a good practice to inspect the print results using NOVA’s built-in camera and LED lights. We discussed using selective printing in the software to reprint unsatisfactory features, allowing you to avoid reprinting the entire design.

Conclusion

As demonstrated in the webinar, the final print exhibited excellent stretchability after being laminated onto a piece of fabric, showcasing NOVA’s ability to work with flexible, stretchable, and conformable substrates, as well as dispense advanced functional materials.

A special thanks to everyone who joined and participated in the live chat. Your questions about compatible substrates with NOVA, setting ink temperatures, and prototyping with both V-One and NOVA helped make the webinar interactive and informative.

Didn’t make it to the webinar? Watch it here:

Interested to learn more? Check out the following resources:

• White paper: Printing ECG Electrodes with Biocompatible Gold Ink on TPU
• White paper: Printing Strain Gauges on TPU laminated on a Glove for Remote Hand Control
• Video: Previous Voltera webinars on additive electronics

We offer printing as a service, where we can create your prototypes for you. To discuss your PCB printing needs, contact us at sales@voltera.io or book a meeting with us. To stay informed on upcoming webinars, subscribe to our newsletter!