Abstract
In order to enable exploitation of noble metal/poly(vinyl-alcohol) nanocomposites for device fabrication, solutions of poly(vinyl-alcohol) suitable for piezo-driven inkjet printing techniques are identified and discussed in terms of their material properties. The printable poly(vinyl-alcohol) medium is then exploited as a host material through the formation of silver or gold nanoparticles in order to create nanocomposites that exhibit a surface plasmon resonance behaviour associated with the small metallic inclusions. To mitigate some of the material redistribution effects associated with the drying of printed droplets containing finely divided materials, the metallic nanoparticles are formed after the printing and drying process is completed, by way of an in situ reduction of an appropriate metal salt by the poly(vinyl-alcohol)-host matrix itself, which takes place at modest temperatures compatible with most substrate materials. An obvious application for such nanocomposites is in optical elements whereby the surface plasmon resonance associated with the metal is the functional aspect of devices such as sensors or active optical elements. High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy was used to examine the dimensions, distribution, morphology and crystal structure of the silver and gold nanoparticles in detail allowing discussion of their suitability for these applications and what further optimisation may be necessary to adequately control their formation.
Highlights
Deposition of materials using industrially scalable inkjet printing technology is already establishing itself as a viable method for manufacturing a wide range of functional devices.[1,2,3,4,5] Such printing technologies frequently require the functional material in nanoparticle form in order to create a colloidal dispersion to act as the “ink”, whereby the formulation of the printable fluid has to have a rheology compatible with the process of droplet formation and needs to control the distribution of the nanoparticulate material upon coalescence and drying of the deposited droplets
For study by High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM), samples were prepared by forming freestanding PVA nanocomposite films by spin-coating the polymer material onto a glass slide pre-coated with a release layer
PVA solutions can be far from ideal rheologically as printable media (PVA is usually added to printable fluids only in small quantities for viscosity adjustment or to act as a binder) and careful consideration needs to be given to the properties of the stock PVA material used to make the precursors jettable
Summary
Deposition of materials using industrially scalable inkjet printing technology is already establishing itself as a viable method for manufacturing a wide range of functional devices.[1,2,3,4,5] Such printing technologies frequently require the functional material in nanoparticle form in order to create a colloidal dispersion to act as the “ink”, whereby the formulation of the printable fluid has to have a rheology compatible with the process of droplet formation and needs to control the distribution of the nanoparticulate material upon coalescence and drying of the deposited droplets. This opens up a route for readily fabricating devices from these nanocomposite materials on either supported or free-standing platforms
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
