Abstract
Different conductive bonding strategies for the hybrid integration of flexible, inkjet-printed electronics are investigated. The focus of the present work lies on providing a practical guide comprising standard techniques that are inexpensive, easily implementable and frequently used. A sample set consisting of identical conductive test structures on different paper and plastic substrates was prepared using silver (Ag) nanoparticle ink. The sintered specimens were electrically contacted using soldering, adhesive bonding and crimping. Electrical and mechanical characterization before and after exposing the samples to harsh environmental conditions was performed to evaluate the reliability of the bonding methods. Resistance measurements were done before and after connecting the specimens. Afterwards, 85 °C/85% damp-heat tests and tensile tests were applied. Adhesive bonding appears to be the most suitable and versatile method, as it shows adequate stability on all specimen substrates, especially after exposure to a 85 °C/85% damp-heat test. During exposure to mechanical tensile testing, adhesive bonding proved to be the most stable, and forces up to 12 N could be exerted until breakage of the connection. As a drawback, adhesive bonding showed the highest increase in electrical resistance among the different bonding strategies.
Highlights
Today’s fast-growing electronic market demands the development of cost-efficient, customizable yet mass-producible and environmentally friendly electrical components
The additive manufacturing of 2.5D electronics structures is commonly referred to as printed electronics (PE)
Direct soldering led to comparatively poor results on the polymer-based substrates, i.e., a conductive connection could only be established on the paper substrates, yet with some restrictions
Summary
Today’s fast-growing electronic market demands the development of cost-efficient, customizable yet mass-producible and environmentally friendly electrical components. Inkjet printing, have the potential to meet these requirements, provided that eco-friendly materials are used [1]. The additive manufacturing of 2.5D (the expansion in one of three main spatial directions is much smaller) electronics structures is commonly referred to as printed electronics (PE). Such PE components, in particular sensors, are often low-cost, flexible and planar, which favours them for the integration in different types of materials and wearables [2,3,4,5,6]. Flexible sensors are suitable for integration into various components during manufacturing in order to be able to monitor fabrication process conditions [12,13] and for structural health monitoring [14,15,16]
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