The key to 3D printing smart structures is the printing of electrically conductive paths. The electrically conductive materials available for 3D printing today have a resistivity ~10000 times that of copper, so we need to print electrical conductors with much larger cross-sections. By simultaneously extruding polymer material and copper wire, we can achieve significantly lower resistivity, enabling more efficient, reliable and energy-saving 3D-printed smart devices.
As part of this task, we would develop an extruder for 3D printers that enables the simultaneous extrusion of polymer material and copper wire. We would then experimentally evaluate the resistivity of the printed conductive traces and compare it to the resistivity of classical conductive materials. The results of this research would help to advance the production of 3D-printed smart structures in a single process.

Contact: Janko Slavič

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