Electrochemical three-dimensional printing and soldering
AssigneeUniversity of South Florida
InventorsArash Takshi, Sabrina Marie Rosa-Ortiz
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A hydrogen evolution assisted electroplating nozzle includes a nozzle tip configured to interface with a portion of a substructure. The nozzle also includes an inner coaxial tube connected to a reservoir containing an electrolyte and an anode, the inner coaxial tube configured to dispense the electrolyte through the nozzle tip onto the portion of the substructure. The nozzle also includes an outer coaxial tube encompassing the inner coaxial tube, the outer coaxial tube configured to extract the electrolyte from the portion of the substructure. The nozzle also includes at least one contact pin configured to make electrical contact with a conductive track on the substrate.
Claims14
A method of low-temperature soldering using a hydrogen evolution assisted electroplating nozzle, the method comprising:
- printing a conductive track on a substructure;
- placing a surface mount electronic device (SMD) having a terminal on the substructure;
- positioning a tip of the hydrogen evolution assisted electroplating nozzle at a predetermined distance above the substructure, wherein the predetermined distance ensures a contact pin connected to the electroplating nozzle makes slidable electrical contact with the conductive track, wherein the contact pin is adjacent to and spaced apart from the tip, and
- electroplating, with the hydrogen evolution assisted (HEA) electroplating nozzle, a metal between the conductive track and the terminal of the SMD by applying a predetermined voltage to grow the metal via hydrogen evolution assistance.
A method of low-temperature soldering using a hydrogen evolution assisted electroplating nozzle, the method comprising:
- printing a carbon-based conductive track on a substructure, the substructure having a melting point of below 120 degrees Celsius;
- placing a surface mount electronic device (SMD) having a terminal on the substructure;
- positioning a tip of the hydrogen evolution assisted electroplating nozzle at a predetermined distance above the substructure, wherein the predetermined distance ensures a contact pin connected to nozzle makes slidable electrical contact with the conductive track, wherein the contact pin is adjacent to and spaced apart from the tip, and
- electroplating, with the hydrogen evolution assisted (HEA) electroplating nozzle, a metal between the conductive track and the terminal of the SMD by applying a predetermined voltage to grow the metal using hydrogen evolution assistance.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.