Preparation of non-particles conductive silver ink and electrical property

In this work, we used the silver nitrate as the silver source to prepare the silver citrate and silver carbonate as the metal precursor compounds for non-particles silver conductive ink. In the process, the isopropyl amine was added as the complexing agent, methanol as the reducing agent, and a small amount of other additives was added to adjust physical parameters, such as viscosity and surface tension. The silver conductive ink could be applied to A4 flat printer to print pattern on the PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) substrate, then the film was treated at a relatively lower temperature for several minutes, a good conductive silver film was obtained. The silver precursors, conductive ink and silver film were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, four-point probe system, dynamic contact angle measuring instrument, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermo-gravimetric analyzer. The results indicated that the conductive silver film was made up of uniform silver nanoparticles after the conductive ink was sintered at 130 ℃. By heat-treatment for 40 minutes at 130 ℃, the sheet resistance of the silver film could be as low as 0.84 Ω·□^-1, which could be widely used for printed electronics field.