Voidless metal lines sintered with intense pulsed light and their applications as transparent metal-mesh electrodes

Abstract

An optimal metal ink that can be sintered without void generation by intense pulsed light (IPL) was systematically formulated. This ink is a hybrid ink in which silver (Ag) nanoparticle ink and copper (Cu) precursor ink are mixed in an optimal weight ratio, and the reduced Cu fills the space between Ag nanoparticles during the sintering process. The optimization process of the ink encompasses the shape and size of nanoparticles, the type of solvent, and the mixing ratio of the Cu precursor ink. This optimized ink was filled in the engraved trenches and IPL-sintered to fabricate flexible transparent metal-mesh electrodes. If there are voids in the metal lines after IPL sintering, the metal lines may shrink under condition of high temperature and high humidity for a long time, which may deteriorate the stability of the metal electrode. It was confirmed that the hybrid ink optimized in this study hardly shrinks due to no voids inside the metal lines after IPL sintering and has excellent environmental and mechanical stability. The metal-mesh electrode produced using this ink showed superior properties compared to other competing transparent electrodes such as indium-tin oxide or Ag nanowires when used for transparent heaters and electromagnetic shielding applications.