COMMUNICATION (1 of 7)in general, Internet of things (IoT) applications. [5] One approach to obtaining electronics on 3D surfaces is based on printing electrical circuits on flat surface, followed by reshaping them into 3D structures. [3b] A well-known example of such process is the thermoforming of thermoplastics with embedded circuits. [6] The drawback of this method is that it is limited in its possible patterns due to the dimensional changes that take place during the thermoforming stretching process, and the limitation to thin plastic films. Another method is by direct printing of conductive inks onto the 3D surfaces, with conductive inks composed of metal NPs. [1b,5,7] However, after printing, the NPs require a sintering process to decompose the organic stabilizers and to render it electrically conductive. Typical sintering processes are based on thermal treatment at elevated temperatures, which can damage some of the polymers that are currently used in typical 3D printers (T g < 80 °C). [8] The prerequisite for low sintering temperature results in low conductivity and poor surface smoothness. For low-frequency antenna applications, the result might be satisfying. However, for highfrequency applications, high conductivity and smooth surfaces are required. Accordingly, there is still an unmet need for a new scientific approach that would result in high conductivity, high surface smoothness, as well as perform at low temperature and low cost. A suitable approach to address these obstacles is the electroless copper plating (EP), which is commonly used to form highly conductive metallic structures. A typical EP process is composed of two main steps: first, a catalyst seed is deposited onto the designated substrate, followed by immersing into a metal salt solution with a reducing agent, resulting in metal coating of the pattern composed of the catalyst. Commonly reported seeds for 2D substrate are based on palladium (Pd), silver, and poly(dopamine). However, each of these materials has its limitations. For example, Pd [9] and silver, [3a,10] which are extensively reported, are very costly materials. With seeds based on poly(dopamine), [11] the obtained bulk resistivity is six times higher than that of bulk copper, which is not sufficient for EP processes. Copper-based seeds were also reported for 2D substrate by either sequential printing of copper salt and strong reducing agents [12] or by laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) technique. The latter resulted in poor resolution and low 3D printed electronics is an emerging field of high importance in both academic research and industrial manufacturing. It enables fabrication of 3D devices with embedded or conformal electronic circuits, which are relevant to a variety of applications, such as Internet of things, soft robotics, and medical devices. Patterning of electrical conductors with conductivity higher than 50% bulk copper is challenging and usually involves electroless or electrolytic deposition processes that require the use of very costly catalyst, ma...
Printed electrical circuit with conductivity higher than 70% of bulk copper is obtained. Self‐reducible copper complex ink is used as a catalyst for electroless copper plating. The ink is printed on 2D and 3D substrates followed by short plasma treatment to induce its decomposition and render it catalytically active. This is reported by Shlomo Magdassi and co‐workers in article number https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.201701285.
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