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Updated: Jul 7, 2025
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Planar and Three-Dimensional Printing of Conductive Inks
Published on: December 9, 2011
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Systematic Investigation of Novel, Controlled Low-Temperature Sintering Processes for Inkjet Printed Silver
Zehua Chen1, Ulrich Gengenbach1, Liane Koker1
1Institute for Automation and Applied Informatics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76344, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany.
Small (Weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)
|December 21, 2023
Summary
Damp heat and water sintering offer low-temperature methods for creating conductive silver tracks on flexible electronics. These techniques significantly reduce resistance on polymer substrates, enabling wider applications.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Flexible Electronics
Background:
- Functional inks, particularly silver nanoparticle (Ag NP) ink, are crucial for printed electronics.
- Conventional thermal sintering of Ag NPs requires high temperatures, risking damage to low-temperature substrates like polymer films.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate damp heat sintering and water sintering as alternative low-temperature methods for Ag NP ink.
- To analyze the microstructure and sintering mechanisms of Ag NPs under these conditions.
Main Methods:
- Inkjet printing of Ag NP tracks on polymer substrates.
- Sintering using damp heat and water at 85°C.
- Microstructural analysis of sintered Ag NPs.
Main Results:
- Both damp heat and water sintering significantly reduced the resistance of Ag tracks.
- Achieved conductivity was only 1.7 times higher than samples sintered at 250°C.
- A low-temperature sintering mechanism for Ag NPs, considering capping layer behavior, was proposed.
Conclusions:
- Damp heat and water sintering are effective for achieving high conductivity in printed Ag tracks on polymer substrates.
- These methods expand substrate compatibility for flexible electronics and minimize substrate damage.
- Method selection depends on specific application requirements and substrate type.
