Low-cost 3D-printing system for the deposition of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) thin films by dip-coating with application for electrode fabrication

Abstract

A low-cost 3D-printing system is reported for the deposition of thin films by a dip-coating technique. The structure was constructed using 3D-printed pieces of polylactic acid (PLA) joined by simple snap-fit. This structure assembly and design simplifies the construction and replicability of dip-coating equipment. The components used are affordable and accessible, reducing the cost of implementation. An Arduino controls the system through a C++ program that varies the pulling and dipping speed from 0.5 to 20 mm/s. The pulling and dipping process uses a servomotor motion transformed into linear by a rack and pinion mechanism. The performance of the presented system was validated by comparison of thin-film reduced graphene oxide (rGO) deposition onto gold. The rGO thin films obtained were homogeneous and smooth, capable of being used as electrodes in biosensors.

Keywords:

• 3D-printing
• dip-coating
• reduced graphene oxide (rGO) thin-film

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to VRS Technology and Innovation Eirelli, and 2MI Group for financial support and also Nacional de Grafite Ltda for providing samples of natural graphite.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.