Self-Reducing Silver Ink on Polyurethane Elastomers for the Manufacture of Thin and Highly Stretchable Electrical Circuits

Publikationen: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelForschung(peer-reviewed)

Autoren

  • Jonas Groten
  • Matic Krivec
  • Gernot Schulz
  • Christian Wolf
  • Delara Hartmann
  • Maximilian Moser
  • Megan J. Cordill
  • Barbara Stadlober

Externe Organisationseinheiten

  • Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Weiz
  • Carinthian Tech Research AG
  • Human Research Institute of Health Technology and Prevention Research
  • AT&S - Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik Aktiengesselschaft Leoben
  • Erich-Schmid-Institut für Materialwissenschaft der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften

Abstract

Stretchable conductive films were obtained by screen printing and thermal treatment of a homogenous ink comprising a thermally reducible silver formate complex, an acrylate monomer, and a radical initiator. In the curing process, both the filler nanoparticles and the polymer matrix are generated in situ, at temperatures as low as 100 °C. The obtained conductors, consisting of percolated silver nanoparticles embedded in a polymeric matrix, typically show a resistivity of (2–4) × 10–5 Ω·m. When applied on an elastomeric substrate, the composite is stretchable up to 200% with very low R/R0 values, which is unprecedented for stretchable silver composite inks. Quasi-in situ confocal laser scanning microscopy of the strained samples revealed an initial fracture strain above 40%, which is unusually high for metal–nanoparticle films. The described system was compared to some commercial stretchable screen-printing inks and proved superior with regard to both R/R0 and resistance to cyclic tensile loading.

Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)2742-2755
Seitenumfang14
FachzeitschriftChemistry of materials
Jahrgang33.2021
Ausgabenummer8
DOIs
StatusVeröffentlicht - 22 März 2021