My ink is conductive!?

Forum 2005-2010 (read only) General Bar Sport
1

Well....not very...

I was sitting on my computer when a strange whim struck me, and I took out some batteries, my (crappy) DMM, and the Single Sided Arduino PCB I have printed out on regular paper (with my injet) for fun. I attached the wires and touched a trace with my DMM, and to my surprise, it showed voltage!

This led to the printing of an accurately labeled line and more testing.

Using a combined total of 14.88 combined battery power (one 9V is dying :P), I discovered:

By placing the + end of the batteries at the 0" mark, and attaching my - DMM lead to the - Battery lead, and the + lead to the 1" spot on the line, the voltage dropped to 2.68 volts (about a 82% drop :O).

But after that initial drop, the voltage only decreases at about 40% each inch.

I know that sounds like a LOT of resistance, but I wasn't expecting this to do anything at all :P. Any clue what in the Ink is causing this phenomenon?

Here are some more pictures:

2

Well there is probably some carbon in the toner/ink that your printer is using. Some resistor pots are still made using carbon for the conductive track. I know that SparkFun sells some linear resistor potentiometers strips that work similar to what you are seeing. Not sure if every brand/model of printer ink could replicate your results, but it could be used in some useful or innovative project.

PS: Before you buy another Arduino board, get a better DMM ;D

Lefty

3

Ah ok then. I was just wondering what the heck was going on :stuck_out_tongue:

PS: Before you buy another Arduino board, get a better DMM

It's on my Christmas list ;). This one, in fact.

4

and to my surprise, it showed voltage!

That would suggest that you ink is acting as a battery. :wink:

Did you mean to say:-
and to my surprise, it showed some resistance value!

5

Ah...indeed. I was excited and mistyped :P.

6

Lucky you! My ink(toner) doesn't seem to have this characteristic. I would've loved to do some papertronics :wink:

7

Not related to the observed phenomena but maybe interesting for Pracas the paperduino:

8

It's not quite conductive enough to be practical haha :P. The voltage drops considerable amounts over a short distance. :frowning:

9

Probably as much a testament to the op amp in the DMM as to the conductivity of the ink. :slight_smile:

10

You may get conductive ink if you mix it (worth a try) with the content of this:

11

Not related to the observed phenomena but maybe interesting for Pracas the paperduino:

I can't really tell what they did. Did they just print out the boards as templates, and then use wires to connect everything (inside the Cardboard)? I feel a "Carduino" coming on... :stuck_out_tongue:

You may get conductive ink if you mix it (worth a try) with the content of this

That's a bit pricey for only 7ml! :o

12

you can see in the last image, all the component leads are soldered together "dead bug" style

13

That's a bit pricey for only 7ml!

A cheaper alternative is to use staples.

14

A cheaper alternative is to use staples.

Or Conductive Tape.

15

you can see in the last image, all the component leads are soldered together "dead bug" style

Seems like I read something once "Fahrenheit 451"
I wonder if the paper 'board' ever catches fire when soldering the leads up. :wink:

Lefty

16

Seems like I read something once "Fahrenheit 451"

Haha I was thinking the same thing :P.

17

The "circuit pen" type conductive ink things tend to be based on powdered silver. Thus the high price :wink:

You can make moderately a conductive "paint" with powdered graphite and a variety of paint-like bases, including water-based white glue. There are a couple of "Instructables" on the subject...

18

LadyAda sells the Drawdio, which takes this phenomenon a step farther.

http://www.ladyada.net/make/drawdio/

19

Or Conductive Tape.

Normal tape + foil anyone?

20

Normal tape + foil anyone?

Perhaps. If it was double sided tape.