{"id":10063,"date":"2026-01-12T11:00:40","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T16:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/?p=10063"},"modified":"2026-02-20T14:48:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T19:48:16","slug":"werner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/2026\/01\/12\/werner\/","title":{"rendered":"The Electrodeposition Pen (RET)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Mentors<\/h3>\n\n\t<ul class=\"profile-listing profile-format-advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"profile-item profile-item-advanced has-title post-9753 profile type-profile status-publish hentry affiliation-faculty\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/profile\/jorg-werner\/\" class=\"profile-link profile-link-advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"profile-photo profile-photo-advanced\"><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/photonics-programs\/files\/2025\/12\/Joerg-Werner-Color-600x600-1-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t<h6 class=\"profile-name profile-name-advanced\">J\u00f6rg Werner*<\/h6>\n\t\t<p class=\"profile-title profile-title-advanced\">Assistant Professor (ME, MSE)<\/p>\t<\/a>\n\n\t\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"profile-item profile-item-advanced has-title post-10668 profile type-profile status-publish hentry affiliation-graduate-student\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/profile\/zhaoyi-zheng\/\" class=\"profile-link profile-link-advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"profile-photo profile-photo-advanced\"><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/photonics-programs\/files\/2026\/02\/Zhaoyi-Zheng-picture-e1629753982231-549x636-1-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t<h6 class=\"profile-name profile-name-advanced\">Zhaoyi Zheng<\/h6>\n\t\t<p class=\"profile-title profile-title-advanced\">PhD Candidate<\/p>\t<\/a>\n\n\t\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"profile-item profile-item-advanced has-title post-10671 profile type-profile status-publish hentry affiliation-graduate-student\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/profile\/jin-yan\/\" class=\"profile-link profile-link-advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"profile-photo profile-photo-advanced\"><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/photonics-programs\/files\/2026\/02\/JinYan-e1743080662658-598x636-1-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t<h6 class=\"profile-name profile-name-advanced\">Jin Yan<\/h6>\n\t\t<p class=\"profile-title profile-title-advanced\">PhD Candidate<\/p>\t<\/a>\n\n\t\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Project Description<\/span><\/h3>\n<div>\n<p><span>This summer internship project will design, build, and test a handheld electrodeposition \u201cpen\u201d capable of writing micro-to-millimeter scale metallic and polymeric traces as simple patterns directly onto conductive substrates such as metal foils and surfaces. The writing is done through electrochemical deposition from an electrolytic solution, the \u201cink\u201d, while the pen and metallic surface form a closed electrochemical circuit. The project combines basic electrochemistry, electric circuits, material selection, technical product design, and 3D printing to create and characterize a prototype device. The project emphasizes quantitative characterization of electrochemical characteristics and feature sizes of the electrodeposition, as well as device prototyping for an intuitive pedagogic demonstration on how electricity drives chemistry that, in turn, results in material creation.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h3 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Research Goals<\/h3><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Identify components, materials, and designs compatible with electrolytic solutions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Understand and quantify the rate limiting steps of the electrochemical system that is the pen while writing to achieve a low overall resistance<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Determine the rate, efficiency, and spatial fidelity of copper and colored\/invisible polymer electrodeposition (writing).<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h3 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Learning Goals<\/h3><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li><span> Fundamentals and hands-on experience with electrochemistry, electrodeposition principles, and electrolyte formulation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Fundamentals of electrical circuits and systems<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Experience in the analysis of surface patterns and thin-film materials<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Skills in device design and prototyping with 3D printed components<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Timeline<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Weeks 1:<\/strong><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Design and 3D-printing of components.<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Weeks 2:<\/strong><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Assembly, testing, and optimization of pen design.<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Weeks 3:<\/strong><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Electrodeposition of metal patterns and quantitative electrochemical analysis.<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Week 4:<\/strong><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Electrodeposition of polymer patterns and quantitative electrochemical analysis.<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Weeks 5:<\/strong><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Surface analysis of metal and polymer patterns.<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Weeks 6:<\/strong><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Buffer time and wrap-up documentation.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mentors Project Description This summer internship project will design, build, and test a handheld electrodeposition \u201cpen\u201d capable of writing micro-to-millimeter scale metallic and polymeric traces as simple patterns directly onto conductive substrates such as metal foils and surfaces. The writing is done through electrochemical deposition from an electrolytic solution, the \u201cink\u201d, while the pen and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19768,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[118],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10063"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19768"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10063"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10726,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10063\/revisions\/10726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}