Numerical simulation of stable electrohydrodynamic cone-jet formation and printing on flexible substrate

Abstract

This study aimed to regulate the stability of electrohydrodynamic cone-jet morphology by modifying the needle structure and conical point electrode by drawing upon high AC voltage and low flow velocity values. Accordingly, stability is achieved by the electrohydrodynamic jet (E-Jet) printing, considered an effective tool in micro and nanofabrication for flexible electronic systems. In the present study, 2-phase-field method was employed to draw a comparison of the volume of fraction method to optimize parameters for stable cone-jet on a PET substrate surface by exploiting a range of copper control electrodes. With COMSOL Multiphysics software, the equations of electric potential and electrical body forces were successfully solved. The validation study was compared with ensure the optimization parameters of cone-jet morphology, as retained in the boundaries of Melcher-leaky dielectric model. Moreover, the simulation parameters were directly adopted to print continuous line patterns on the PET substrate, which are considered prominent and promising E-Jet printing methods for flexible electronic systems.