Direct Ink Writing (DIW) on NanoPaper: Voltera Nova-Style Baselines
*Applies to: A4 Sheets · Last updated: 2026-06-06 22:20:39*
This page is a practical starting recipe for printing on 50 µm Tangho NanoPaper™ A4 sheets using a Voltera NOVA direct-ink-writing workflow. It is intended for engineers, researchers, and prototyping teams who want a controlled first conductive print before moving into their own device layouts, inks, and cure profiles.
The baseline below uses ACI FS0142 Flexible Silver as the starter ink because it is commonly used with NOVA workflows and has been validated on NanoPaper. Treat these values as a first-run recipe, not a universal process guarantee. Final settings depend on ink condition, nozzle, design geometry, printer calibration, local humidity, cure equipment, and required electrical performance.
What this recipe is for
Use this page when your goal is to complete a first single-layer conductive print on NanoPaper using a Voltera NOVA printer.
Good first-print geometries include:
- a simple line / space trace coupon
- a serpentine resistor
- an RFID-style single-layer antenna or trace pattern
- a small pad-and-trace test layout
For the first run, avoid dense multilayer designs, unsupported fine features, aggressive cure profiles, or high-coverage solid fills until the substrate, ink, and cure workflow are behaving predictably.
Materials and setup
Recommended starting materials:
| Item | Starting recommendation |
|---|---|
| Substrate | 50 µm NanoPaper A4 sheet |
| Printer | Voltera NOVA |
| Ink | ACI FS0142 Flexible Silver |
| Nozzle | 250 µm ID |
| Design | Simple single-layer Gerber, line-space coupon, serpentine, or pad-and-trace test pattern |
| Mounting | Rigid carrier, low-tack frame tape, clean flat support |
| Handling | Clean nitrile gloves, edge handling only |
| Cure support | Flat metal, glass, ceramic, or other clean thermally stable carrier |
For NOVA setup, calibration, software operation, cartridge handling, and general printer procedures, follow Voltera’s official NOVA documentation. This page focuses only on NanoPaper-specific starting guidance.
1. Prepare the NanoPaper sheet
Keep NanoPaper sealed until the lab environment and sheet are ready.
- Acclimate the sealed pouch for at least 2 hours in the print environment.
- Open the pouch only when ready to print.
- Handle the sheet with clean nitrile gloves and avoid touching the printable area.
- Mount the sheet flat on a rigid carrier using low-tack frame tape.
- Avoid stretching, bending, wrinkling, or taping across the print region.
If the sheet has been exposed to humidity or if repeatability matters, pre-dry before printing:
| Condition | Suggested pre-dry / conditioning |
|---|---|
| Normal sealed sheet | No pre-dry usually required |
| Suspected moisture pickup | 50–60 °C for 15–30 min |
| Visible curl or handling instability | Flatten / condition first before printing |
NanoPaper is moisture-sensitive in the practical sense that absorbed water can affect flatness, handling, and apparent stiffness. Keep the first trial controlled: dry storage, clean handling, flat support, and minimal delay between mounting and printing.
2. Load a simple design
Import a simple single-layer design into the NOVA workflow.
For a first run, prioritize a design that makes process behavior easy to inspect:
- straight traces for line width and edge quality
- a serpentine for resistance per length
- pads for adhesion and probe contact
- optional line-space arrays if you are exploring feature limits
Do not start with your most complex device. A short, diagnostic print will tell you more than a failed full-layout print.
3. Start with these NOVA settings
These values are intended as a first-pass baseline for 50 µm NanoPaper + ACI FS0142 Flexible Silver + 250 µm nozzle. Adjust after inspecting bead formation, line continuity, edge definition, and electrical resistance.
| Parameter | Starter value | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Ink | ACI FS0142 Flexible Silver | Confirm ink condition, cartridge handling, and clean extrusion |
| Nozzle ID | 250 µm | Good starting point for robust first traces |
| Print speed | 350 mm/min | Reduce if gaps appear; increase only after line quality is stable |
| Dispense pressure | 6400 | Increase modestly for under-dispensing; reduce for flooding or smearing |
| Trace spacing | 180 µm | Check for overfill or gaps in adjacent traces |
| Dispense threshold | 2% | Use as the initial NOVA baseline |
| Relief threshold | 50% | Watch for stringing or delayed shutoff |
| Relief offset | 0.3 mm | Tune if travel moves create tails or stringing |
| Print height | 65 µm | Increase if scraping occurs; decrease carefully if bead contact is poor |
| Relief pressure | 2200 | Adjust with relief settings if stringing persists |
| Preheat | 35 °C | Use modest heat only; avoid drying the bead too aggressively during print |
NOVA height and bead control
Use NOVA’s normal probing and setup workflow for height calibration. Do not treat NanoPaper as a manually set “tip just kisses the surface” substrate.
For NOVA users, bead quality is usually tuned through:
- print height
- dispense pressure
- relief pressure
- print speed
- relief offset
- nozzle condition
- ink condition
As a first visual target, the printed bead should be continuous, well adhered, and slightly wider than the nozzle ID without severe flattening, skipping, or edge flooding.
4. Print
Before printing the actual design:
- Prime or purge a short line according to the NOVA workflow.
- Confirm that ink exits cleanly and consistently.
- Print a short test line or diagnostic feature first.
- Inspect the bead before committing to the full pattern.
During the first print, watch for:
- continuous line formation
- no major gaps or dry segments
- no severe beading or dewetting
- no nozzle scraping or substrate disturbance
- no excessive corner bulging
- no major stringing between travel moves
For a first run, keep the print simple and use a single printed layer. Add complexity only after the baseline is conductive and mechanically stable.
5. Solvent removal and cure
After printing, keep the sheet flat on its support. Stage solvent removal before final curing so the printed trace is set before higher-temperature exposure.
| Step | Starting guidance | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Solvent removal | 60–80 °C until the print looks dry and set | Keep the sheet flat on a supported carrier |
| Silver cure | 150 °C for 12 min | Used successfully for ACI FS0142 Flexible Silver on 50 µm NanoPaper |
| Support | Flat metal, glass, ceramic, or other stable carrier | Do not cure unsupported for early trials |
| Cooling | Cool flat before handling | Minimize curl and handling damage |
For ACI FS0142 Flexible Silver on 50 µm NanoPaper, use the ink supplier’s guidance as the authority for final cure requirements. As a practical first NanoPaper trial, 150 °C for 12 min on a flat support has been used successfully.
6. Recondition before final flexibility assessment
After thermal processing, allow the printed sheet to re-equilibrate at room humidity before judging final flexibility or brittleness.
| Step | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Cool | Cool flat on support |
| Recondition | 12–24 h at room humidity |
| Evaluate | Inspect flatness, adhesion, resistance, and function after reconditioning |
Immediately after dry heat, NanoPaper may feel temporarily stiffer or drier. Judge final handling, bend behavior, and curl after reconditioning, not immediately out of the oven.
What a successful first print looks like
A successful first NOVA print on NanoPaper does not need to be a fully optimized device. It should demonstrate that the substrate, ink, and cure profile are compatible enough to proceed.
| Area | Pass indication | Useful next measurement |
|---|---|---|
| Geometry | Continuous traces with no major gaps | Measure line width and compare to design |
| Edge quality | Acceptable edge definition for the feature size | Inspect for feathering, flooding, or bead breakup |
| Substrate condition | No severe curl, scorching, bubbling, or cracking | Record flatness before and after cure |
| Conductivity | Measurable electrical continuity after cure | Measure resistance or sheet resistance where possible |
| Adhesion | No obvious lift during gentle handling or light tape screening | Run a consistent tape or cross-hatch screen if relevant |
| Handling | Sheet remains usable after cooling and reconditioning | Check bend response after 12–24 h reconditioning |
For formal qualification, define your own pass/fail criteria for resistance, adhesion, bend radius, humidity aging, thermal cycling, and device performance.
Quick troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | First adjustment |
|---|---|---|
| Broken or intermittent line | Under-dispensing, clogged nozzle, excessive speed, poor priming | Re-prime, check nozzle, increase dispense pressure modestly, or reduce speed |
| Bead pearls or forms droplets | Insufficient wetting, print height too high, flow too low, surface contamination | Confirm clean handling, reduce print height slightly, tune pressure, check ink condition |
| Bead is too flat or smeared | Print height too low, pressure too high, excessive local flow | Increase print height slightly or reduce dispense pressure |
| Nozzle disturbs sheet | Sheet not flat, tape insufficient, print height too low | Re-mount flatter, improve edge support, check probing, increase print height |
| Stringing during travel | Relief / retract behavior not sufficient, pressure too high, ink stringing | Increase relief effectiveness, reduce pressure, add wipe / purge discipline if needed |
| Corner bulging | Excess flow during deceleration or sharp turns | Reduce pressure, adjust speed/path settings, simplify first design |
| High resistance after cure | Incomplete cure, poor line continuity, line too narrow/thin | Verify cure profile, inspect continuity, print wider trace or add pass after baseline works |
| Poor adhesion | Surface contamination, incomplete dry/cure, incompatible ink profile | Use gloves, dry before cure, verify ink cure, run adhesion screening after full reconditioning |
| Curl after heating | Unsupported heating, moisture gradient, excessive thermal dwell | Use flat carrier, add light restraint where compatible, reduce dwell, recondition before assessment |
| Darkening or scorching | Excess temperature/dwell, hot spot, unsupported heating | Stop test, lower temperature/dwell, verify oven uniformity and support method |
Run log checklist
Record these values for each trial. This makes later troubleshooting much faster.
| Field | Record |
|---|---|
| Date / operator | |
| NanoPaper thickness and lot | |
| Sheet storage condition | |
| Ambient temperature / RH | |
| Ink name and lot | |
| Nozzle ID | |
| Design file / geometry | |
| Print speed | |
| Print height | |
| Dispense pressure | |
| Relief pressure | |
| Relief threshold / offset | |
| Preheat | |
| Solvent removal profile | |
| Cure profile | |
| Support / carrier used | |
| Reconditioning time | |
| Line width / visual notes | |
| Resistance / continuity | |
| Adhesion note | |
| Curl / flatness note | |
| Photos attached |
Next steps after a successful first print
Once the starter recipe produces a stable conductive trace, move one variable at a time:
- tune line width and spacing
- test your actual device geometry
- optimize cure profile for resistance and adhesion
- run bend / handling checks after reconditioning
- compare against your incumbent substrate under the same ink and cure conditions
- document the process window before scaling to more complex layouts
If you are evaluating NanoPaper for a specific ink, device, or production process, send the following information to the NanoPaper team for application support:
- ink name and supplier
- printer and nozzle configuration
- design geometry
- print settings
- dry / cure profile
- photos before and after cure
- resistance or device data
- adhesion, curl, or handling observations
- target application and substrate currently used
Contact: nanopaper@tangho.green