Study of Inkjet-Printed Silver Films Based on Nanoparticles and Metal-Organic Decomposition Inks with Different Curing Methods

Abstract

Currently, inkjet printing conductive films have attracted more and more attention in the field of electronic device. Here, the inkjet-printed silver thin films based on nanoparticles (NP) ink and metal-organic decomposition (MOD) ink were cured by the UV curing method and heat curing method. We not only compared the electrical resistivity and adhesion strength of two types of silver films, but also studied the effect of different curing methods on silver films. The silver films based on NP ink had good adhesion strength with a lowest electrical resistivity of 3.7 × 10−8 Ω·m. However, the silver film based on MOD ink had terrible adhesion strength with a lowest electrical resistivity of 2 × 10−8 Ω·m. Furthermore, we found a simple way to improve the terrible adhesion strength of silver films based on MOD ink and tried to figure out the mechanisms. This work offers a further understanding of the different performances of two types of silver films with different curing methods.

Investigation of Reactive Silver Ink Formula for Reduced Silver Consumption in Silicon Heterojunction Metallization

“…Printing 3.1 μΩ·cm silver films at 61 °C substrate temperatures with no post-processing is a state-of-the-art result. Of the many reports on reactive silver inks, only a few show lower resistivities (Table S6), and none match our low-temperature performance (<65 °C). ,,− …”

“…Thermal decomposition rates increase exponentially with temperature, so higher temperatures can change the reduction mechanism to favor thermal decomposition. The particle-shaped morphologies seen at higher temperatures are characteristic of silver formed from thermal decomposition − and support this claim. We hypothesize that the relative amounts of ligand-evaporation reduction and thermal decomposition dictate the final silver morphology, leading to the predominantly particle-shaped morphologies observed at higher temperatures versus the predominantly flake-like morphologies observed at low temperatures.…”

Tailoring Morphology and Size of Silver Nanoparticles Prepared by Polyol Method by Changing the Structure of Silver Carboxylate Precursor

“…Recent developments in nanochemistry have led to the creation of functional inks based on metal nanoparticles that can be used to fabricate a new generation of printed devices. [1][2][3][4] It should be mentioned that silver nanoparticles are widely used in conductive compositions due to their high conductivity, thermal stability, and chemical inertness. [5] Different chemical and physical techniques are used to prepare silver particles including chemical reduction of the silver ions in various liquid media.…”

Editorial for the Special Issue on 2D Nanomaterials Processing and Integration in Miniaturized Devices

“…Such a plethora of material/application combinations, in addition to the obvious technical requirements related to the synthesis of materials and the optimization of purity, composition, morphology and yield, also presents significant technological challenges for the corresponding processing, patterning and above all integration into systems and devices of higher dimensionality for the real exploitation of their unique properties. The present Special Issue is then focused on such last topics, collecting eight research papers and one review article dealing with MoS 2 [ 1 ], graphene [ 2 , 3 , 4 ] and other 2D nanomaterials integrated onto several kinds of materials and structures (nanogap [ 1 ], porous silicon [ 5 ], silicon carbide [ 6 ]) and for different applications (photoluminescence [ 1 ], ink-jet printing [ 7 ], optics and plasmonics [ 2 , 8 ], lubrication [ 3 ], innovative patterning [ 4 ], biomedicine [ 9 ]).…”

“…The kinetic of the growth process was studied from the initial 3D clustering to the final continuous rough thin film formation. Xiao et al [ 7 ] performed a full comparison, with special attention to electrical resistivity and adhesion, between ink-jet-printed silver thin films based on nanoparticle ink and metal–organic decomposition ink cured by two different approaches, that is to say, UV exposure and heat-assisted approaches. Cao et al [ 8 ] fabricated (through a combination of lithography and nanoimprint technology) and characterized a flexible 3D display film element consisting of two integrated structures of a microimage array and microlens array.…”