Printing and electromagnetic characteristics of 3D printing frequency selective surface using graphene

• Published in: Journal of materials science & technology 2022-06, Vol.111, p.49-56
• Main Authors: Zhou, Guo-Xiang, Zhao, Zhe, Zhang, Yan-zhao, Liu, Wen-jin, Yang, Zhi-Hua, Jia, De-Chang, Zhou, Yu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 3D printing; Frequency selective surface; Graphene; Precision; Rheological
• ISSN: 1005-0302; 1941-1162
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2021.09.041

•Graphene modifies silver ink from shear thinning effect to fluid model behavior.•Cross model ink presents better printing precision than Carreau-Yasuda ink.•High static viscosity contributes to high printing precision in direct ink writing.•Connected graphene sheets contribute to highly electromagnetic performance matching. The study of Frequency Selective Surface (FSS) by Direct ink writing (DIW) has attracted much attention due to the convenience and effectiveness of 3D printing technology. However, the limited printing precision of DIW has heavily restricted its applications as the electromagnetic performance is highly sensitive to it, especially the precision at the microscale. Herein, the ultra-high printing precision of FSS was achieved through DIW by the uniformly dispersed graphene sheets to deeply modify the rheological behavior and the steric hindrance effect. Thus, the highly precision of the printed filament width as thin as 67 μm with a space of only 42 μm were achieved, which is difficult for conventional DIW, and no structural distortion is found after 3D printing, no matter it was 2D printed on a flat surface or the sharply skewed hook face, or even 3D printed to architectural structures. According to the highly improved precision, the electromagnetic performance matching between the designed model and the printed physical FSS device was perfectly achieved, reducing the center frequency error less than 0.3 GHz, and the transmission coefficient error less than 0.046. Our work promises an effective and easy preparation of high-quality FSS from the aid of graphene.