Ink-jet printing of water-based YBa2Cu3OX coatings and patterns

Ceramic high temperature superconductors (HTS) such as YBa2Cu3OX (YBCO) are near perfect conductors for electricity and promising materials for applications in green energy generation and as conducting wires. To allow the integration of HTS materials in for example conducting wires, we need to move from brittle bulk ceramics to thin films on flexible substrates. To fulfil the requirements on an industrial scale, the mentioned material need to be deposit on an appropriate substrate as cheap and environmentally friendly as possible. Therefore, we develop a water-based precursor solution based on sol-gel chemistry. The combination of a chemical solution with ink-jet printing gives important advantages over traditional deposition techniques (e.g. spincoating) such as limited waste of the precursor solution, production in long lengths and the possibility to switch quite easily from depositing a coating to a multifilamentary superconductor.A first focus of this research is the development and the deposition of a water-based YBCO precursor solutions on substrate with a piezoelectric ink-jet printing set-up (Dimatix Materials Printer and Microfab single-nozzle). The chemistry between the deposited ink and the substrate plays a very important role in the wetting behaviour of the last one. The choice of metal salts and chelating agents such as triethanolamine and EDTA are then not only important to obtain a clear and stable ink, but they are also important for the wetting behaviour of the ink with the substrate.The second focus is then to apply a specific and well-controlled heat treatment to the sample to convert the aqueous film to the desired YBCO phase under controlled atmosphere. The resulting ceramic films were analysed with optical microscopy, SEM and XRD. Superconducting properties of the YBCO films were investigated.Ceramic high temperature superconductors (HTS) such as YBa2Cu3OX (YBCO) are near perfect conductors for electricity and promising materials for applications in green energy generation and as conducting wires. To allow the integration of HTS materials in for example conducting wires, we need to move from brittle bulk ceramics to thin films on flexible substrates. To fulfil the requirements on an industrial scale, the mentioned material need to be deposit on an appropriate substrate as cheap and environmentally friendly as possible. Therefore, we develop a water-based precursor solution based on sol-gel chemistry. The combination of a chemical solution with ink-jet printing gives important advantages over traditional deposition techniques (e.g. spincoating) such as limited waste of the precursor solution, production in long lengths and the possibility to switch quite easily from depositing a coating to a multifilamentary superconductor.A first focus of this research is the development and the deposition of a water-based YBCO precursor solutions on substrate with a piezoelectric ink-jet printing set-up (Dimatix Materials Printer and Microfab single-nozzle). The chemistry between the deposited ink and the substrate plays a very important role in the wetting behaviour of the last one. The choice of metal salts and chelating agents such as triethanolamine and EDTA are then not only important to obtain a clear and stable ink, but they are also important for the wetting behaviour of the ink with the substrate.The second focus is then to apply a specific and well-controlled heat treatment to the sample to convert the aqueous film to the desired YBCO phase under controlled atmosphere. The resulting ceramic films were analysed with optical microscopy, SEM and XRD. Superconducting properties of the YBCO films were investigated.C