Electrochemical migration behavior of low-temperature-sintered Ag nanoparticle paste using water-drop method

Abstract

The electrochemical migration (ECM) behavior of low-temperature-sintered Ag nanoparticle paste electrode was investigated using water-drop method. The effects of applied direct current bias voltage and NaCl concentration on ECM behavior were discussed. Results show that: at low NaCl concentration levels, mean time to failure caused by ECM decreased with increasing NaCl concentration due to the increase of solution conductivity; at medium NaCl concentration levels, dendrite growth was retarded due to the formation of AgOH or other insoluble products, while at high NaCl concentration levels, due to the turbulent hydrogen evolution, the second spreading of water drop resulted in the circuit broken and thus inhibited ECM behavior. Moreover, mean time to failure decreased with the rising applied bias voltage. More importantly, hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) was proved to act as an effective inhibitor to migrate dendrite growth by selected adsorption. And the ECM inhibition efficiency increased with the concentration of CTAC. Relevant mechanisms of ECM behavior and ECM inhibition effect of CTAC for low-temperature-sintered Ag nanoparticle paste were proposed.