SFA-AM - Strategic Focus Area Advanced Manufacturing
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DiPrintProtect

Digitally Printed Temporary Protective Films for Application in the Watch Industry
Background and main goal
To date, the Swiss watch industry has relied on handcrafted excellence. While precision manufacturing remains the focus, novel materials and processes are being developed with the potential to replace some of the manufacturing steps that are still done manually with automatic processing. This transformation will not only accelerate production but also allow for new watch designs with higher definition.

​The DiPrintProtect project aims to replace the manual application of protective coatings within the watch manufacturing cycle with a digital printing process. This will be realized by pursuing three main objectives that reflect industry needs: (i) develop a printable resin to ensure the desired protective function, (ii) identify a digital printing technology with the requested spatial definition down to 10 µm, and (iii) ensure traceless removal of the protection, either by dissolution or preferably by peeling off or delamination.

Idea and approach
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A scientific breakthrough is anticipated by developing a printable ink based on a reversible photo-polymer that can be cured (hardened) with light and removed later via irradiation with a second wavelength of light without leaving traces. This strategy will be realized in the form of coatings and interfacial (sacrificial) layers. A novel photorheology method will be developed for real-time monitoring of the polymerization-depolymerization reactions. At the core of this technical advance will be a series of photo-resins and adhesion technologies that include photo-activatable and photolabile bonds. In this manner, advanced manufacturing (digital printing via drop-ondemand) can apply the resin and non-invasive optical approaches can cure or remove the coating.
Demonstrators
Demonstratators will be realised in partnership with selected Swiss watch industries under the strategic support from the Swiss Association of Horological Research.
Technical challenges
Digital printing methods have the potential to fulfill the requirements imposed on the application of protective resins in serial production. However, research is needed to find sets of printable photo-curable resins for desired printability, protection function and traceless removal.

The current challenges are:
  1. developing printable resins and coatings,
  2. identifying suitable printing methods to allow simultaneous fulfillment of spatial resolution and protecting function, and
  3. ensuring a facile traceless removal of protective films – by environmentally-friendly dissolution or solvent-free delamination or peeling-off, which is desirable in many cases
Consortium
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Laboratory for Thin Films and Photovoltaics, ​
Empa
Dr. Yaroslav Romanyuk (project leader)
Dr. Vitor Vlnieska
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Laboratory for Processing of Advanced Composites, ​
​
EPF Lausanne
Dr. Yves Leterrier (principal investigator)
Alper Balkan (PhD student)
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Macromolecular Engineering,
​ETH Zürich
Prof. Dr. Mark Tibbitt (principal investigator)
Morris Wolf (PhD student)
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Laboratory for Functional Polymers, ​
Empa
Dr. Jakob Heier (principal investigator)
Dr. Vitor Vlnieska
Involved and supporting industry partners
  • Association Suisse pour la Recherche Horlogère (ASRH)​
  • The Swatch Group Research and Development Ltd
  • Optomec GmbH
  • Ciposa S.A.
Key project data 
Project Duration:
July 2021 - June 2025 (48 months)
Project Funding:
1.15 million CHF
Linked scientific publications
  • Vlnieska, V., E. Gilshtein, D. Kunka, J. Heier and Y. E. Romanyuk (2022). "Aerosol Jet Printing of 3D Pillar Arrays from Photopolymer Ink." Polymers 14(16): 3411.
An initiative of the ETH Board
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Participating Institutions of the ETH Domain
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Disclaimer
Imprint
© COPYRIGHT 2021. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • Focus Areas
    • Focus Areas 2017-2020 >
      • Precision Free-Form Manufacturing
      • Printed Electronics
      • Sustainable Digital Manufacturing and Design
      • Sensing Technologies
      • Intelligent Systems and Advanced Automation
    • Focus Areas 2021-2024 >
      • Manufacturing Technologies
      • Functionality Integration
      • Sensing Technologies
      • Intelligent Systems and Advanced Automation
  • Projects
    • Projects Initial Program 2017-2020 >
      • Ceramic X.0
      • FUORCLAM
      • Powder Focusing
      • PREAMPA
      • FOXIP
      • CFRP-AM
      • SD4D
    • Projects Expansion Program 2017-2020 >
      • D-SENSE
      • MOCONT
      • Nano Assembly
      • SOL4BAT
    • Projects Program 2021-2024 >
      • AMYS
      • ClosedLoop-LM
      • DiPrintProtect
      • MANUFHAPTICS
      • Microfluidics
      • Multi-Mat
      • SCALAR
      • SMARTAM
  • Investments
    • Capacity Buildup >
      • ALIVE Initiative
      • ANAXAM Center
      • M2C Platform
      • Professorships
    • Technology Platforms >
      • Synthesis & Fabrication
      • Characterization & Measurement
  • Events
    • Annual Meetings >
      • Annual Review Meeting 2024
      • Annual Review Meeting 2023
      • Annual Review Meeting 2022
      • Annual Review Meeting 2021
      • Annual Review Meeting 2020
      • Annual Review Meeting 2019
      • Annual Review Meeting 2018
    • Industry Workshops >
      • Sensors
    • Other Events >
      • Joint Initiatives AMKT Event
      • CERAMIC X.0 Workshop
      • Workshop 13 July 2020
      • Launch Event 13 Nov 2017
      • Workshop 6 July 2017
      • Workshop 17 Oct 2016
    • SAMCE
  • About
    • Steering Committee
    • Participating ETH Institutions
    • Calls & Selection >
      • Initial Program 2017-2020
      • Expansion Program 2017-2020
      • Continuation Program 2021-2024
  • Contact