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Amphiphilic Silver Nanoparticles for Inkjet-Printable Conductive Inks
Irena Ivanišević1, Marin Kovačić1, Marko Zubak1
1Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, University of Zagreb, Marulićev trg 19, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland)
|December 11, 2022
Summary
Researchers developed a novel silver nanoparticle ink for flexible electronics printing. This conductive ink achieves good wetting on paper and plastic substrates, enabling printed circuits with low resistance.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Chemistry
Background:
- Inkjet printing of flexible electronics requires conductive inks with excellent surface wetting properties.
- Current conductive inks face challenges in adhering to diverse flexible substrates like paper and plastics.
- Developing advanced functional inks is crucial for scalable flexible electronics manufacturing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and characterize an amphiphilic silver nanoparticle-based ink for inkjet printing on flexible substrates.
- To investigate the synthesis and properties of silver nanoparticles modified for enhanced dispersibility and surface adhesion.
- To demonstrate the application of the developed ink in fabricating functional flexible electronic devices.
Main Methods:
- Two-step wet chemical synthesis of amphiphilic silver nanoparticles, involving poly(acrylic acid) capping followed by amidation with 3-morpholynopropylamine (MPA).
- Physicochemical and rheological characterization of nanoparticle dispersions in various solvents.
- Inkjet printing of the formulated silver nanoparticle ink onto paper, coated PET, and uncoated PI substrates.
- Intense pulsed light (IPL) sintering for conductivity enhancement.
- Density functional theory (DFT) calculations to understand particle-dispersion medium interactions.
Main Results:
- Amphiphilic silver nanoparticles with controlled size and good dispersibility were successfully synthesized.
- A stable ink formulation with 10 wt% silver nanoparticles was achieved, demonstrating good printability on diverse flexible substrates.
- Low sheet resistances were obtained: 3.85 Ω sq-1 (paper), 0.57 Ω sq-1 (PET), and 19.7 Ω sq-1 (PI) after IPL sintering.
- Successful fabrication of a simple flexible LED circuit using the printed nanoparticle ink.
Conclusions:
- The developed amphiphilic silver nanoparticle ink overcomes wetting challenges for inkjet printing on flexible substrates.
- The ink enables the fabrication of low-resistance conductive patterns on various materials, including paper and plastics.
- This work presents a viable approach for manufacturing flexible electronics using cost-effective and scalable inkjet printing technology.
