Cost-effective and self-reducible Cu-Ni composite ink for low temperature fabrication of highly conductive and anti-oxidative electrodes

Abstract

• The inexpensive and self-reducing Cu-Ni composite ink was prepared. • The high quality printed Cu-Ni electrodes were fabricated at 180°C. • The Cu-Ni electrodes presented good conductivity and thermal stability. In this work, an inexpensive and self-reducible Cu-Ni composite ink was designed for low temperature fabrication of the highly conductive and anti-oxidative Cu-Ni electrodes. The Cu-Ni electrode was obtained at a lower sintering temperature originating from the self-catalyzed characteristic of Cu micron particles. Consequently, the Cu-Ni electrode sintered at 180 °C exhibits high conductivity with a low electrical resistivity of 7.1×10 -5 Ω.cm. and its relative resistance is significantly lower than that of Cu electrode after the high temperature aging test. These results indicate that the self-reducible Cu-Ni composite ink provides a promising prospect for the highly conductive and stable electrode.