Mar 19 2019
The INM—Leibniz Institute for New Materials introduces hybrid inks for inkjet printing that comprises of metal nanoparticles coated with conductive polymers. The inks can be formulated in water as well as in other polar solvents and are ideal for printing conductive structures on a variety of substrates without any follow-up UV or thermal treatment. Typical metal inks necessitate annealing after inkjet printing to be made conductive. INM’s new inks remove this step, making them well-matched with numerous substrates including paper and thin polymer foils.
(Image credit: INM)
The developers will showcase their hybrid inks at stand C54 in hall 5 at the 2019 Hannover Messe, which will be held April 1st and 5th.
Conductive inks are extensively used in to print electronics. The inks launched by INM are related to lighting, flexible photovoltaics, large-area heaters, wearable devices, touch screen electronics, sensors, and 3D conformal antennas, among others. The inks are founded on gold nanoparticles with low toxicity (FDA “generally regarded as safe”) and good biocompatibility, appropriate for biomedical and health applications.
Immediate conductivity upon drying, mechanical flexibility, and good biocompatibility are important properties of our ink. The hybrid inks contain a small organic polymer fraction that helps to maintain its electrical conductivity, even if the substrate material is bent.
Tobias Kraus, Materials Scientist, INM.
This enables printing on virtually any substrate, like paper, foil, or textiles, since the final annealing stages at comparatively high temperatures are sidestepped.
INM researchers have expanded the production of these hybrid inks to a level that is adequate for small-scale production.
The scaling of nanostructured products requires optimized processes in order to maintain quality while lower prices.
Tobias Kraus, Materials Scientist, INM.
Upon request, samples of the material can be procured for testing.