Impact of metered ink volume on reel-to-reel flexographic printed conductive networks for enhanced thin film conductivity

Abstract

The flexographic printing process has been employed to produce micro-scale conductive networks at various anilox volumes, the primary ink metering system in the flexographic process. These networks have been utilised to reduce the sheet resistance of a coated transparent conductive layer on a flexible substrate, whilst limiting the effect of apparent transparency, caused by the area covered by the networks. The anilox volume was varied to identify any effect on the printed network tracks and the resulting sheet resistance. Increased anilox volume was shown to have a large impact on the printed film thickness, with increased anilox volumes producing tracks of increased thickness, thus conductivity, with limited effect on the track width and subsequent area coverage. The produced tracks display a very smooth convex shape, an important factor for the development of functional devices, allowing more accurate and thinner over-coating. The anilox volumes required for the production of highly conductive tracks were shown to be greater than those conventionally employed in graphics printing.