Highly crystalline Ni/NiO hybrid electrodes processed by inkjet printing and laser-induced reductive sintering under ambient conditions

Abstract

In this study, we perform drop-on-demand (DOD) inkjet printing and laser reductive sintering of precrystallized NiO nanoparticle (NP) ink under ambient conditions to obtain NiO/Ni hybrid electrode patterns on a highly localized area. By formulating an inkjet-printable and laser-reducible NiO NP ink, and by exploring the optimum conditions of inkjet printing parameters, we generate stable droplets, enabling arbitrary shapes of NiO NP dot arrays or line patterns to be deposited. Subsequent short-time low-temperature sintering produces highly crystalline NiO electrodes. Furthermore, laser reductive sintering applied on deposited NiO NP patterns can successfully realize a selective transformation of NiO into Ni electrodes under ambient conditions. Therefore, we can define either NiO or Ni electrodes, or a combination of the two on specific areas with precise amounts of ink. In addition, we identify the characteristics of the synthesized NPs, NP ink, NiO and Ni electrodes using various analytical methods.

Laser Irradiation of Metal Oxide Films and Nanostructures: Applications and Advances

“…The large temperature gradients and high diffusion rates during laser processing lead to epitaxial growth rates that are orders of magnitude larger and effective heating times much shorter than that for conventional thermal treatment . Furthermore, the laser irradiation technique has been utilized for processing of complex nanostructures, such as site‐specific growth of nanowires (NWs) (e.g., ZnO, TiO 2 ) and nanorods (NRs) (e.g., Fe 2 O 3 , Ag/ZnO), spatial patterning of nanocrystals (e.g., ZnO) and NWs (e.g., Al 2 O 3 ), fabrication of nanosheets (e.g., Fe 2 O 3 ) and clustered nanostructures (e.g., Ag–ZnS@ZnO, Ag/WO 3− x ), production of oxide nanoparticles (NPs) by laser ablation in liquid (e.g., CuO, MnO x , Y 3 Fe 5 O 12 , Ag/TiO 2 , Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ , Gd 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ , Y 3 Al 5 O 12 :Ce 3+ (YAG:Ce), Fe@Fe 2 O 3 , or Fe 3 O 4 ), in situ formation of nanocomposites (e.g., Co 3 O 4 , MoO 2 , and Fe 3 O 4 particles embedded in graphene, ZnO particles embedded in poly(methyl methacrylate)), selective patterning of hybrid electrodes (e.g., Ni/NiO), direct scribing of fine structures (e.g., ITO), and direct writing of microdevices (e.g., TiO 2 , Cu/Cu 2 O).…”

Inkjet printing of NiO films and integration as hole transporting layers in polymer solar cells

“…Although a few reports have demonstrated printing of NiO films, all have been to fabricate thick NiO films, for example screen printed thick NiO films for gamma radiation detection applications 39 , thick NiO electrodes by ink-jet printing 40 , and printing of NiO nanoparticles for thermistor 41 and electrochromic applications 42 . To the best of our knowledge, there are no studies on printed NiO thin films for organic solar cell devices.…”

Large exchange bias and enhanced coercivity in strongly-coupled Ni/NiO binary nanoparticles

“…A little larger a-value of Ni, viz., 3 ) over that of their bulk counterparts is predominantly due to the interfacial interaction (interface between Ni and NiO). This kind of interaction causes two types of strains in the lattice.…”

“…Over the past few decades, functional nanocomposites have attracted increasing attention both in rst principles and practical applications, [1][2][3][4] because of their great potential in new technologies. Magnetic nanoparticles with a core-shell (or compound, or binary) structure have been studied extensively.…”

“…These factors are critical especially in nanosized crystals and are strongly affected by the synthetic route. Remarkable progress has been made in recent years regarding the synthesis of the Ni/NiO binary manoparticles., 10,12,[17][18][19][20] Highly crystalline and monodisperse Ni/NiO nanoparticles have been prepared by the physical techniques including laserinduced reductive sintering, 3 sequential layer deposition, 10 CVD method, 21 nanosecond laser irradiation, 22 cluster-beam deposition, 23 and pulsed laser deposition. 24 However, universal agreement of the origin of the EB effect and other related anomalous magnetic properties is still under debate.…”