Mechanical characteristics of metal nanoparticle thin film on flexible substrate exposed to saline solution

The robust and reliable mechanical characteristics of metal nanoparticle (NP) thin films on flexible substrates are important because they operate under tensile, bending, and twisting loads. Furthermore, in wearable printed electronics applications, salty solutions such as sweat and seawater can affect the mechanical reliabilities of devices. In this paper, we investigated the effect of sodium chloride (NaCl) solutions on silver (Ag) NP thin films on flexible polymer substrate. After exposure to NaCl solution of Ag NP thin film, we observed the aggregation behavior between Ag NPs and formation of larger pores in the film due to the removal of organic capping layer from the surface of Ag NPs. The average porosity and 5% deviation strains of Ag NP thin films on the polyimide substrate were dramatically increased and decreased from 2.99% to 9.64% and from 3.94% to 0.87%, respectively, after exposure to NaCl solution for 1 h. Also, we verified a drastic deterioration of the surface adhesion of the Ag NP thin film to the substrate by exposure to NaCl solution. We could observe crack propagation and delamination by in-situ scanning electron microscope imaging. In addition, passivation effect by a parylene layer for preventing the permeation of the saline solution was investigated.