Near-IR sintering of conductive silver nanoparticle ink with in situ resistance measurement

David J. Keller; Krystopher S. Jochem; Wieslaw J. Suszynski; Lorraine F. Francis

doi:10.1007/s11998-019-00268-5

Near-IR sintering of conductive silver nanoparticle ink with in situ resistance measurement

David J. Keller, Krystopher S. Jochem, Wieslaw J. Suszynski, Lorraine F. Francis

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Metal nanoparticle inks are excellent options for printing low-resistance metal conductors and electrical interconnects. However, after deposition, these inks require high-temperature annealing to sinter and increase conductivity. Infrared (IR) heaters are an efficient, roll-to-roll compatible method to apply thermal energy. Here, we characterize the effect of near-infrared (N-IR) heating on the structure and properties of printed silver nanoparticle ink (UTD Ag40x, UT Dots Inc.). A method was developed to measure the resistance and temperature of printed conductive inks as a function of exposure to the IR heater. The N-IR heater was found to sinter the Ag40x silver samples (lower the resistance of 7 mm printed lines to 1000 Ω) in 11.6 ± 1.5 min at maximum intensity with a large drop from the highest measured resistance (60 MΩ) to 1000 Ω in 1.2 ± 0.2 min. Decreasing the heater power increased the time to reach 1000 Ω (to 28.3 ± 2.0 min at 80%), but reducing from 60 MΩ to 1000 Ω still only took 1.9 ± 0.3 min. This suggests sintering progresses rapidly once initiated. SEM images of the ink before and after IR heating show microstructural changes associated with sintering and indicate the role of agglomerates and organic binders in impeding sintering.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1699-1705
Number of pages	7
Journal	Journal of Coatings Technology and Research
Volume	16
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11998-019-00268-5
State	Published - Nov 1 2019

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was initially supported by the Multi-University Research Initiative (MURI) program sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (MURI Award No. N00014-11-1-0690) and then by the National Science Foundation (NSF Award No. CMMI-1634263). K. S. J. gratefully acknowledges support from the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. (00039202). D. J. K. thanks the donors to the Scriven Undergraduate Research Fund at the University of Minnesota Foundation for support. The authors thank F. Zare Bidoky for significant help with aerosol jet printing. The authors thank Adphos North America for providing the Adphos IR heater used in these studies. Parts of this work were carried out in the Characterization Facility, University of Minnesota, which receives partial support from NSF through the MRSEC program. Portions of this work were conducted in the Minnesota Nano Center, which is supported by the National Science Foundation through the National Nano Coordinated Infrastructure Network (NNCI) under Award Number ECCS-1542202.

Funding Information:
This work was initially supported by the Multi-University Research Initiative (MURI) program sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (MURI Award No. N00014-11-1-0690) and then by the National Science Foundation (NSF Award No. CMMI-1634263). K. S. J. gratefully acknowledges support from the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. (00039202). D. J. K. thanks the donors to the Scriven Undergraduate Research Fund at the University of Minnesota Foundation for support. The authors thank F. Zare Bidoky for significant help with aerosol jet printing. The authors thank Adphos North America for providing the Adphos IR heater used in these studies. Parts of this work were carried out in the Characterization Facility, University of Minnesota, which receives partial support from NSF through the MRSEC program. Portions of this work were conducted in the Minnesota Nano Center, which is supported by the National Science Foundation through the National Nano Coordinated Infrastructure Network (NNCI) under Award Number ECCS-1542202.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, American Coatings Association.

Keywords

Aerosol jet printing
In situ resistance measurements
Infrared sintering
Silver nanoparticle ink

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@article{c0e89940ada9420094d0185fac07bea2,

title = "Near-IR sintering of conductive silver nanoparticle ink with in situ resistance measurement",

abstract = "Metal nanoparticle inks are excellent options for printing low-resistance metal conductors and electrical interconnects. However, after deposition, these inks require high-temperature annealing to sinter and increase conductivity. Infrared (IR) heaters are an efficient, roll-to-roll compatible method to apply thermal energy. Here, we characterize the effect of near-infrared (N-IR) heating on the structure and properties of printed silver nanoparticle ink (UTD Ag40x, UT Dots Inc.). A method was developed to measure the resistance and temperature of printed conductive inks as a function of exposure to the IR heater. The N-IR heater was found to sinter the Ag40x silver samples (lower the resistance of 7 mm printed lines to 1000 Ω) in 11.6 ± 1.5 min at maximum intensity with a large drop from the highest measured resistance (60 MΩ) to 1000 Ω in 1.2 ± 0.2 min. Decreasing the heater power increased the time to reach 1000 Ω (to 28.3 ± 2.0 min at 80%), but reducing from 60 MΩ to 1000 Ω still only took 1.9 ± 0.3 min. This suggests sintering progresses rapidly once initiated. SEM images of the ink before and after IR heating show microstructural changes associated with sintering and indicate the role of agglomerates and organic binders in impeding sintering.",

keywords = "Aerosol jet printing, In situ resistance measurements, Infrared sintering, Silver nanoparticle ink",

author = "Keller, {David J.} and Jochem, {Krystopher S.} and Suszynski, {Wieslaw J.} and Francis, {Lorraine F.}",

note = "Funding Information: This work was initially supported by the Multi-University Research Initiative (MURI) program sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (MURI Award No. N00014-11-1-0690) and then by the National Science Foundation (NSF Award No. CMMI-1634263). K. S. J. gratefully acknowledges support from the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. (00039202). D. J. K. thanks the donors to the Scriven Undergraduate Research Fund at the University of Minnesota Foundation for support. The authors thank F. Zare Bidoky for significant help with aerosol jet printing. The authors thank Adphos North America for providing the Adphos IR heater used in these studies. Parts of this work were carried out in the Characterization Facility, University of Minnesota, which receives partial support from NSF through the MRSEC program. Portions of this work were conducted in the Minnesota Nano Center, which is supported by the National Science Foundation through the National Nano Coordinated Infrastructure Network (NNCI) under Award Number ECCS-1542202. Funding Information: This work was initially supported by the Multi-University Research Initiative (MURI) program sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (MURI Award No. N00014-11-1-0690) and then by the National Science Foundation (NSF Award No. CMMI-1634263). K. S. J. gratefully acknowledges support from the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. (00039202). D. J. K. thanks the donors to the Scriven Undergraduate Research Fund at the University of Minnesota Foundation for support. The authors thank F. Zare Bidoky for significant help with aerosol jet printing. The authors thank Adphos North America for providing the Adphos IR heater used in these studies. Parts of this work were carried out in the Characterization Facility, University of Minnesota, which receives partial support from NSF through the MRSEC program. Portions of this work were conducted in the Minnesota Nano Center, which is supported by the National Science Foundation through the National Nano Coordinated Infrastructure Network (NNCI) under Award Number ECCS-1542202. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019, American Coatings Association.",

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doi = "10.1007/s11998-019-00268-5",

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N2 - Metal nanoparticle inks are excellent options for printing low-resistance metal conductors and electrical interconnects. However, after deposition, these inks require high-temperature annealing to sinter and increase conductivity. Infrared (IR) heaters are an efficient, roll-to-roll compatible method to apply thermal energy. Here, we characterize the effect of near-infrared (N-IR) heating on the structure and properties of printed silver nanoparticle ink (UTD Ag40x, UT Dots Inc.). A method was developed to measure the resistance and temperature of printed conductive inks as a function of exposure to the IR heater. The N-IR heater was found to sinter the Ag40x silver samples (lower the resistance of 7 mm printed lines to 1000 Ω) in 11.6 ± 1.5 min at maximum intensity with a large drop from the highest measured resistance (60 MΩ) to 1000 Ω in 1.2 ± 0.2 min. Decreasing the heater power increased the time to reach 1000 Ω (to 28.3 ± 2.0 min at 80%), but reducing from 60 MΩ to 1000 Ω still only took 1.9 ± 0.3 min. This suggests sintering progresses rapidly once initiated. SEM images of the ink before and after IR heating show microstructural changes associated with sintering and indicate the role of agglomerates and organic binders in impeding sintering.

AB - Metal nanoparticle inks are excellent options for printing low-resistance metal conductors and electrical interconnects. However, after deposition, these inks require high-temperature annealing to sinter and increase conductivity. Infrared (IR) heaters are an efficient, roll-to-roll compatible method to apply thermal energy. Here, we characterize the effect of near-infrared (N-IR) heating on the structure and properties of printed silver nanoparticle ink (UTD Ag40x, UT Dots Inc.). A method was developed to measure the resistance and temperature of printed conductive inks as a function of exposure to the IR heater. The N-IR heater was found to sinter the Ag40x silver samples (lower the resistance of 7 mm printed lines to 1000 Ω) in 11.6 ± 1.5 min at maximum intensity with a large drop from the highest measured resistance (60 MΩ) to 1000 Ω in 1.2 ± 0.2 min. Decreasing the heater power increased the time to reach 1000 Ω (to 28.3 ± 2.0 min at 80%), but reducing from 60 MΩ to 1000 Ω still only took 1.9 ± 0.3 min. This suggests sintering progresses rapidly once initiated. SEM images of the ink before and after IR heating show microstructural changes associated with sintering and indicate the role of agglomerates and organic binders in impeding sintering.

KW - Aerosol jet printing

KW - In situ resistance measurements

KW - Infrared sintering

KW - Silver nanoparticle ink

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Near-IR sintering of conductive silver nanoparticle ink with in situ resistance measurement

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

MRSEC Support

Publisher link

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MRSEC IRG-2: Sustainable Nanocrystal Materials

MRSEC Program DMR-1420013

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Near-IR sintering of conductive silver nanoparticle ink with in situ resistance measurement

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

MRSEC Support

Publisher link

Find It

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

MRSEC IRG-2: Sustainable Nanocrystal Materials

MRSEC Program DMR-1420013

Cite this