The use of graphene materials as conductive inks for flexible and transparent electronics is promising, but challenged by the need for stabilizers, specialized organic solvents, and/or high temperature annealing, severely limiting performance or compatibility with substrates and printing techniques. Here, the development of a scalable water‐based graphene oxide ink is reported that can be screen‐printed on flexible plastic substrates and subsequently reduced using a 1:1 mixture of trifluoroacetic acid and hydroiodic acid, thereby creating an electric circuit. The reduced prints exhibit low sheet resistance of 327 Ω sq−1 for thin semitransparent layers with 37% transmittance. This methodology with postprinting chemical reduction outperforms high temperature annealing, thereby eliminating the need for such a step, which is incompatible with flexible plastic substrates. The strategy relies on low cost, industrially compatible chemicals and can be scaled up for low cost manufacture of roll‐to‐roll printed electronics.
Graphene‐derived materials are attractive components in conductive inks for printed and flexible electronics. Here, the authors report a facile and scalable synthesis of mildly oxidized graphite and its formulation into screen‐printable inks. The screen‐printed electrodes exhibit sheet‐resistance below 1 Ω/sq after rolling‐compression, with a compressed film thickness of ≈3 μm and line‐width resolution below 100 μm. The method, described herein, can be used without the need for substrate‐limiting post‐printing treatments, such as high‐temperature annealing, photonic annealing, or chemical reduction. The approach is applicable to any arbitrary and heat‐sensitive substrate, including plastic and paper, and is both highly cost‐effective and suitable for roll‐to‐roll printing of a wide range of devices.
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