Electrochemical three-dimensional printing and soldering

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12320028-B2
Application number	US-202218145732-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 22, 2022
Priority date	Jul 11, 2017
Publication date	Jun 3, 2025
Grant date	Jun 3, 2025

Abstract

A hydrogen evolution assisted electroplating nozzle includes a nozzle tip configured to interface with a portion of a substructure. The nozzle also includes an inner coaxial tube connected to a reservoir containing an electrolyte and an anode, the inner coaxial tube configured to dispense the electrolyte through the nozzle tip onto the portion of the substructure. The nozzle also includes an outer coaxial tube encompassing the inner coaxial tube, the outer coaxial tube configured to extract the electrolyte from the portion of the substructure. The nozzle also includes at least one contact pin configured to make electrical contact with a conductive track on the substrate.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of low-temperature soldering using a hydrogen evolution assisted electroplating nozzle, the method comprising:
printing a conductive track on a substructure;
placing a surface mount electronic device (SMD) having a terminal on the substructure;
positioning a tip of the hydrogen evolution assisted electroplating nozzle at a predetermined distance above the substructure, wherein the predetermined distance ensures a contact pin connected to the electroplating nozzle makes slidable electrical contact with the conductive track, wherein the contact pin is adjacent to and spaced apart from the tip, and
electroplating, with the hydrogen evolution assisted (HEA) electroplating nozzle, a metal between the conductive track and the terminal of the SMD by applying a predetermined voltage to grow the metal via hydrogen evolution assistance.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substructure is a 3D printed structure constructed by printing different layers on top of each other and comprising a filament material of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) or polylactic acid (PLA).

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the contact pin is a first contact pin, the method further comprising making electrical contact between a second contact pin and the terminal of the SMD when applying the predetermined voltage.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substructure includes a cavity, and wherein placing the SMD on the structure includes placing the SMD within the cavity.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nozzle comprises:
a reservoir at a proximal end of the nozzle, the reservoir containing an electrolyte, the reservoir further containing an anode in contact with the electrolyte in the reservoir;
the tip at a distal end of the nozzle opposite the reservoir, the tip configured to interface with a portion of the substructure, the tip defined by distal ends of two coaxially aligned tubes comprising an inner coaxial tube within an outer coaxial tube, the distal end of the inner coaxial tube extending beyond the distal end of the outer coaxial tube;
the inner coaxial tube connected at a proximal end of the reservoir and extending through the nozzle to the distal end defining the tip, the inner coaxial tube configured to dispense the electrolyte through the tip onto the portion of the substructure; and
the outer coaxial tube encompassing the inner coaxial tube, the outer coaxial tube configured to extract the electrolyte from the portion of the substructure.

6. A method of low-temperature soldering using a hydrogen evolution assisted electroplating nozzle, the method comprising:
printing a carbon-based conductive track on a substructure, the substructure having a melting point of below 120 degrees Celsius;
placing a surface mount electronic device (SMD) having a terminal on the substructure;
positioning a tip of the hydrogen evolution assisted electroplating nozzle at a predetermined distance above the substructure, wherein the predetermined distance ensures a contact pin connected to nozzle makes slidable electrical contact with the conductive track, wherein the contact pin is adjacent to and spaced apart from the tip, and
electroplating, with the hydrogen evolution assisted (HEA) electroplating nozzle, a metal between the conductive track and the terminal of the SMD by applying a predetermined voltage to grow the metal using hydrogen evolution assistance.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the metal is copper.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein applying the predetermined voltage to grow the metal on the conductive track includes applying the predetermined voltage between two contact pins of the hydrogen evolution assisted electroplating nozzle and generating a potential profile along the conductive track.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein generating the potential profile along the conductive track increases a growth rate of the metal on the conductive track.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the metal creates a layer on the conductive track, the layer comprising different thicknesses of the metal at different points along the conductive track, such that a thickness of the layer grown as a soldering joint between the conductive track and the terminal of the SMD is greater than a thickness of the layer grown at other points along the conductive track.

11. The method of claim 6 , where positioning the tip at the predetermined distance includes electrically contacting two pins of the hydrogen evolution assisted electroplating nozzle with the conductive track.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising sensing a quality of an electroplated area based on a resistance between the two pins of the hydrogen evolution assisted electroplating nozzle.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising adjusting a speed of movement of the hydrogen evolution assisted electroplating nozzle based on the sensed quality of the electroplated area.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising adjusting a speed of movement of the hydrogen evolution assisted electroplating nozzle based on the sensed quality of a soldering joint.

Assignees

• Univ South Florida

Inventors

• Takshi Arash
• Rosa-Ortiz Sabrina Marie

Classifications

• C25D17/06

  Suspending or supporting devices for articles to be coated · CPC title

• C25D5/54

  Electroplating of non-metallic surfaces (C25D7/12 takes precedence) · CPC title

• C25D5/003

  Electroplating using gases, e.g. pressure influence · CPC title

• B33Y70/10

  Composites of different types of material, e.g. mixtures of ceramics and polymers or mixtures of metals and biomaterials · CPC title

• B33Y80/00

  Products made by additive manufacturing · CPC title