Silver Nanoparticles for Conductive Inks: From Synthesis and Ink Formulation to Their Use in Printing Technologies

Abstract

Currently, silver nanoparticles have attracted large interest in the photonics, electrics, analytical, and antimicrobial/biocidal fields due to their excellent optical, electrical, biological, and antibacterial properties. The versatility in generating different sizes, shapes, and surface morphologies results in a wide range of applications of silver nanoparticles in various industrial and health-related areas. In industrial applications, silver nanoparticles are used to produce conductive inks, which allows the construction of electronic devices on low-cost and flexible substrates by using various printing techniques. In order to achieve successful printed patterns, the necessary formulation and synthesis need to be engineered to fulfil the printing technique requirements. Additional sintering processes are typically further required to remove the added polymers, which are used to produce the desired adherence, viscosity, and reliable performance. This contribution presents a review of the synthesis of silver nanoparticles via different methods (chemical, physical and biological methods) and the application of silver nanoparticles under the electrical field. Formulation of silver inks and formation of conductive patterns by using different printing techniques (inkjet printing, screen printing and aerosol jet printing) are presented. Post-printing treatments are also discussed. A summary concerning outlooks and perspectives is presented at the end of this review.

Applications of Molecularly Imprinted Films

“…Likewise, the composition of the pastes used for deposition of the successive layers may be altered by the addition of nanostructured materials [98] such as cofactors, stabilizers and mediators. More recently, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), Ag nanowires (AgNWs), CuNWs, CuNPs, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) have also been explored as nano-inks [99,100] and further incorporated either in these pastes or in a stage on the working electrode. The most applied and comfortable routes to prepare MIP layers using inks and pastes are illustrated in Figure Screen-printing technology [101] has emerged as a low-cost thick film technique commonly used in the mass production of highly reproducible and sensitive disposable sensing platforms with application in pharmaceutical, environmental and industrial analysis as well in (bio) chemical sensing, energy storage and microelectronics [102].…”

“…By 2015, numerous newsworthy papers referring to screen-printing techniques, ink formulations and substrate materials were published [102,104,105]. Nowadays, taking into account the type of ink and substrate, printing technologies that should be mentioned are screen printing (more 60%, according to Wahyuni, et al [98]), gravure printing, stereolithography, inkjet printing and jet printing [100].…”

Design and Synthesis of Functional Silane-Based Silicone Resin and Application in Low-Temperature Curing Silver Conductive Inks

“…Among them, Ag is the most commonly used due to its high conductivity, anti-oxidation properties, and stability at ambient temperature [ 34 ]. Therefore, silver conductive inks are extremely attractive, and, in addition, Ag can be incorporated into inks that adhere better to substrates than other metals [ 35 ]. Until now, silver conductive inks have been utilized in stretchable devices, flexible display screens, wearable sensors, etc [ 36 ].…”

Blending Approach Preparation of PVA-g-PMA Films with Embedded “Green” Synthesized Silver Nanoparticles for Acetone Optical Detection

“…Silver is one of the metal materials that exhibit antibacterial activity, chemical stability, the highest electrical and thermal conductivity, good light absorption, and high sensitivity. Therefore, they find applications across many fields, such as catalysis [ 8 ], comprising various electronic components [ 9 ], photonics and photography [ 10 ], biosensing applications [ 11 ] (because their surface plasmon resonance is strongly influenced by the surface-adsorbed molecules), etc. Also, the sensing ability of silver nanoparticles toward different analytes, such as glucose; phenol; triacylglyceride; H 2 O 2 ; vanillin [ 12 ]; and heavy metals in water [ 13 ], including Hg + [ 14 ], has been explored widely.…”