Direct ink writing of bismuth molybdate microwave dielectric ceramics

Additive manufacturing via direct ink writing and microwave dielectric characterisation of commercially produced low sintering temperature bismuth molybdenum oxide ceramics, have been both performed for the first time, following a powder-to-product holistic approach. We demonstrated that direct ink writing is an excellent candidate for producing dielectric substrates to be used for wireless telecommunication applications operating at microwave (MW) frequencies, with great repeatability and properties comparable to ceramics fabricated via conventional processing routes. The optimum density (relative density of ρr ≈ 93%) of the 3D printed test samples was obtained by sintering at 660 °C for 2 h, resulting in a relative permittivity er = 35.7, dielectric loss tanδ = 0.0004 and microwave quality factor Q × f = 14,928 GHz. Sintering at higher temperatures promoted a porosity increase due to mismatching grain growth mechanisms and phase decomposition, that collectively hindered the test samples’ microwave dielectric performance in terms of achievable relative permittivity (er) and dielectric loss (tanδ).