Fabrication of dendritic structures and tags
Methods for fabricating dendritic structures and tags include introducing an electrolyte material onto a substrate, into a substrate, or both onto and into a substrate, and applying an electrical potential to at least one pair of electrodes positioned on the substrate to form one or more dendritic structures on the substrate.
1. A method of forming dendritic structures, the method comprising:
printing an electrically conductive ink on a substrate to form a multiplicity of pairs of electrodes on the substrate;
curing the multiplicity of pairs of electrodes;
immersing the substrate into an electrolytic solution;
applying an electrical potential to the multiplicity of pairs of electrodes to form a multiplicity of dendritic structures on the substrate;
passing the substrate through a rinse bath to remove excess electrolyte;
passing the substrate through a fixing bath to chemically deactivate residual electrolyte material in or on the substrate;
drying the multiplicity of dendritic structures;
oxidizing the multiplicity of dendritic structures;
applying a coating material to the multiplicity of dendritic structures; and
cutting the substrate to yield a multiplicity of substrate pieces, each substrate piece comprising one or more of the multiplicity of dendritic structures.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises one or more materials selected from the group consisting of synthetic and non-synthetic paper and card materials, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, polystyrene, polyamide, polyolefin, acetate, cellulose acetate, acrylate, vinyl, polyester, and polyethylene terephthalate.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises a first structural material and a second adsorbent material.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first structural material comprises at least one of a polymeric material, a paper material, and a cloth material.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the second adsorbent material comprises silica.
6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the second adsorbent material is positioned at least partially within a body of the first structural material.
7. The method of claim 3 , wherein the second adsorbent material comprises a gel.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrical potential is applied to the multiplicity of pairs of electrodes for a period of between 1 second and 30 seconds.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein each dendritic structure of the multiplicity of dendritic structures is formed between a pair of multiplicity of pairs of electrodes, and a potential difference between the electrodes in each pair of electrodes is between 2 volts and 20 volts.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fixing bath comprises a thiosulfate-based fixing solution.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the fixing solution comprises sodium thiosulfate or ammonium thiosulfate.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein oxidizing the dendritic structures comprises heating the multiplicity of dendritic structures to a temperature of between 90 degrees C. and 100 degrees C.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the coating material comprises at least one material selected from the group consisting of cyanoacrylate, polymethylmethacrylate, polyethylene terephthalate, polysiloxane, silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, polyvinylchloride, and cellulose acetate.