Vacuum-Free, Maskless Patterning of Ni Electrodes by Laser Reductive Sintering of NiO Nanoparticle Ink and Its Application to Transparent Conductors

Abstract

We introduce a method for direct patterning of Ni electrodes through selective laser direct writing (LDW) of NiO nanoparticle (NP) ink. High-resolution Ni patterns are generated from NiO NP thin films by a vacuum-free, lithography-free, and solution-processable route. In particular, a continuous wave laser is used for the LDW reductive sintering of the metal oxide under ambient conditions with the aid of reducing agents in the ink solvent. Thin (∼ 40 nm) Ni electrodes of glossy metallic surfaces with smooth morphology and excellent edge definition can be fabricated. By applying this method, we demonstrate a high transmittance (>87%), electrically conducting panel for a touch screen panel application. The resistivity of the Ni electrode is less than an order of magnitude higher compared to that of the bulk Ni. Mechanical bending test, tape-pull test, and ultrasonic bath test confirm the robust adhesion of the electrodes on glass and polymer substrates.

Electrohydrodynamic NanoDrip Printing of High Aspect Ratio Metal Grid Transparent Electrodes

“…While grids have been realized with nanoscale lines in several studies, the fabrication relied on subtractive multistep patterning methods such as imprinting, [ 14,15,20 ] lithography, [ 15 ] or evaporative self-assembly. [ 16 ] For microscale line widths, although not completely additive, an elegant method using selective laser sintering of a silver or nickel nanoparticle fi lm has been presented by Hong et al [ 17 ] and Lee et al, [ 18 ] respectively. A direct ink writing approach of concentrated silver inks has been shown by Ahn et al, demonstrating linewidths around 5 µm.…”

Nanorecycling: Monolithic Integration of Copper and Copper Oxide Nanowire Network Electrode through Selective Reversible Photothermochemical Reduction

“…[ 20 ] Using thermal and chemical energy, electrons and metal ions are separated, and metals are extracted through combination of separated electrons and metal ions. [ 21,22 ] Such reduction process is being widely applied for diverse metallic oxides (TiO 2 , NiO, GO, Cu x O) to convert oxides into their metallic counterparts, [23][24][25][26] however, the existing processes are limited to nanoparticles (NPs). In the NP reduction process, the target NPs are not only reduced, but also merged together simultaneously by the applied large thermal energy.…”

Transparent Electrodes Printed with Nanocrystal Inks for Flexible Smart Devices

“…[7] Kim and co-workers demonstrated the deposition of various doped oxides,i ncluding zinc-and tincodoped In 2 O 3 (IZTO), [8] ITO, [9] and titanium-doped In 2 O 3 (TIO), [10] through the dispersion of nanoparticle powders.The printed films have broad application as TEs in liquid-crystal devices (LCDs) and organic solar cells (OSCs) without the use of any conventional photolithography processes,t hus indicating that the printing of patterned TEs is av iable alternative to the sputtering of ITOTEs for various solutionbased optoelectronic applications.These TEs are apromising cost-effective alternative owing to the absence of photoJizhong Song received his Bachelor's degree from the School of Materials Science and Engineeringa tS hanghai University in 2011. He is currently pursuing his PhD under the supervision of Professor Haibo Zeng at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.…”