Abstract
A facile one-step polyol method is employed to synthesize the Ag nanoparticles (NPs) in large scale. The Ag NPs with different average diameter (from 52 to 120 nm) and particle size distribution are prepared by changing the mass ratio of AgNO3 and PVP. Furthermore, the as-obtained Ag NPs are prepared as conductive inks, which could be screen printed on various flexible substrates and formed as conductive patterns after sintering treatment. During the reaction process, PVP is used as the capping reagent for preventing the agglomeration of Ag NPs, and the influence of the mass ratio of AgNO3 and PVP to the size distribution of Ag NPs is investigated. The results of electronic properties reveal that the conductivity of printed patterns is highly dependent on the size distribution of as-obtained Ag NPs. Among all the samples, the optimal conductivity is obtained when the mass ratio of AgNO3 and PVP is 1:0.4. Subsequently, the sintering time and temperature are further investigated for obtaining the best conductivity; the optimal electrical resistivity value of 3.83 μΩ · cm is achieved at 160 °C for 75 min, which is close to the resistivity value of the bulk silver (1.58 μΩ · cm). Significantly, there are many potential advantages in printed electronics applications because of the as-synthesized Ag NPs with a low sintering temperature and low electrical resistivity.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s11671-016-1640-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Printed electronics represents a promising research field for flexible electronics because of the advantages of mass production, low cost, and environment friendly, which receives growing interesting in recent years [1,2,3,4,5]
The size distribution of Ag NPs is altered by adjusting the mass ratio of AgNO3 and PVP
When the mass ratio of AgNO3 and PVP from 1:1 to 1:0 is further increased, the mean diameter and standard deviation of particle size are significantly increased (Fig. 2c–f and 2c–f), indicating that the PVP plays an important role in regulating the morphology and size distribution of Ag NPs
Summary
Printed electronics represents a promising research field for flexible electronics because of the advantages of mass production, low cost, and environment friendly, which receives growing interesting in recent years [1,2,3,4,5]. Screen printing route is often considered as the most suitable candidate for printed electronics because of its intrinsic simplicity, affordability, high speed, mass production capability, and. It has been reported that the average diameter and particle size distribution of nanomaterials are closely related to the properties, such as optical, magnetic, and electronic properties [26,27,28,29]. The relationship between the size distribution and the electrical properties of the synthetic Ag NPs is rarely studied in detail, especially in printed patterns and printed devices
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