Competitive Advantages: 3D printing independent of type of substrate, Improved hydrogen evolution assisted electroplating, Both printing and soldering, Low-cost and faster process. 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.USF inventors have enhanced the 3D printing method for rapid and localized deposition of electrochemical metal on various substrates with low melting points. Currently, the hydrogen evolution assisted method is used to electroplate on materials with low melting points, and can be used for both printing and soldering metal tracks. The devised method improves upon the hydrogen evolution assisted method by printing metals at room temperature to solder electronic components to conductive tracks. This improved method can be used on materials such as 3D printed work pieces, flexible plastics, rubbers, and fabrics. This method is employed in a nozzle structure of a 3D printer to feature integration of electronic circuits in 3D designed structures. Our invention allows low-cost metal printing on conductive or non–conductive substrates. This technology can be widely used for the manufacturing of integrated circuits, PCBs, and electronic components.
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