Rutgers University is developing faster, cheap nanomanufacturing

A consortium led by Rutgers-New Brunswick University in New Jersey is working on the development of nanomaterials processing.

The establishment is partnering with Oregon State University to create faster and cheaper techniques of manufacturing thin film devices, such a touch screens and window coatings.

The technique under study has been dubbed “the intense pulsed light sintering” method.

The method utilises high-energy light that covers areas 7,000 times larger than lasers are capable of to fuse nanomaterials in seconds.

Previously these techniques used temperatures of approximately 250 degrees Celsius, but new developments, led by the university’s Engineering doctoral student Michael Dexter, have successfully fused the materials as low as 150 degrees.

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Michael Dexter has reported his findings in a new study, titled “RSC Advances”.

“Pulsed light sintering of nanomaterials enables really fast manufacturing of flexible devices for economies of scale,” said Rajiv Malhotra, Senior Author of RSC Advances and Assistant Professor of in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Rutgers-New Brunswick.

“Our innovation extends this capability by allowing cheaper temperature-sensitive substrates to be used.”

“The next step is to see whether other nanomaterial shapes, including flat flakes and triangles, will drive fusion temperatures even lower.”

“We were able to perform this fusion in two to seven seconds compared with the minutes to hours it normally takes now.”

“We also showed how to use the pulsed light fusion process to control the electrical and optical properties of the film.”