Copper Nanoparticle/Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Composite Films with High Electrical Conductivity and Fatigue Resistance Fabricated via Flash Light Sintering

Towards the Functional Ageing of Electrically Conductive and Sensing Textiles: A Review

Electronic textiles (e-textiles) have become more and more important in daily life and attracted increased attention of the scientific community over the last decade. This interdisciplinary field of interest ranges from material science, over chemistry, physics, electrical engineering, information technology to textile design. Numerous applications can already be found in sports, safety, healthcare, etc. Throughout the life of service, e-textiles undergo several exposures, e.g., mechanical stress, chemical corrosion, etc., that cause aging and functional losses in the materials. The review provides a broad and critical overview on the functional ageing of electronic textiles on different levels from fibres to fabrics. The main objective is to review possible aging mechanisms and elaborate the effect of aging on (electrical) performances of e-textiles. The review also provides an overview on different laboratory methods for the investigation on accelerated functional ageing. Finally, we try to build a model of cumulative fatigue damage theory for modelling the change of e-textile properties in their lifetime.

Deep-Sintered Copper Tracks for Thermal Oxidation Resistance Using Large Pulsed Electron Beam

Thermal oxidation resistance is an important property in printed electronics for sustaining electrical conductivity for long time and/or under harsh environments such as high temperature. This study reports the fabrication of copper nanoparticles (CuNPs)-based conductive tracks using large pulsed electron beam (LPEB) by irradiation on CuNPs to be sintered. With an acceleration voltage of 11 kV, the LPEB irradiation induced deep-sintering of CuNPs so that the sintered CuNPs exhibited bulk-like electrical conductivity. Consequently, the sintered Cu tracks maintained high electrical conductivity at 220 °C without using any thermal oxidation protection additive, such as silver, carbon nanotube, and graphene. In contrast, the films irradiated with an acceleration voltage of 8 kV and irradiated by intense pulsed light (IPL) showed fast oxidation characteristics and a corresponding reduction of electrical conductivities under high temperatures owing to a thin sintered layer. The performance of highly thermal oxidation-resistant Cu films sintered by LPEB irradiations was demonstrated through the device performance of a Joule heater.

One-step photonic curing of screen-printed conductive Ni flake electrodes for use in flexible electronics

Photonic curing has shown great promise in maintaining the integrity of flexible thin polymer substrates without structural degradation due to shrinkage, charring or decomposition during the sintering of printed functional ink films in milliseconds at high temperatures. In this paper, single-step photonic curing of screen-printed nickel (Ni) electrodes is reported for sensor, interconnector and printed electronics applications. Solid bleached sulphate paperboard (SBS) and polyethylene terephthalate polymer (PET) substrates are employed to investigate the electrical performance, ink transfer and ink spreading that directly affect the fabrication of homogeneous ink films. Ni flake ink is selected, particularly since its effects on sintering and rheology have not yet been examined. The viscosity of Ni flake ink yields shear-thinning behavior that is distinct from that of screen printing. The porous SBS substrate is allowed approximately 20% less ink usage. With one-step photonic curing, the electrodes on SBS and PET exhibited electrical performances of a minimum of 4 Ω/sq and 16 Ω/sq, respectively, at a pulse length of 1.6 ms, which is comparable to conventional thermal heating at 130 °C for 5 min. The results emphasize the suitability of Ni flake ink to fabricate electronic devices on flexible substrates by photonic curing.

Surface and Interface Designs in Copper-Based Conductive Inks for Printed/Flexible Electronics

Silver (Ag), gold (Au), and copper (Cu) have been utilized as metals for fabricating metal-based inks/pastes for printed/flexible electronics. Among them, Cu is the most promising candidate for metal-based inks/pastes. Cu has high intrinsic electrical/thermal conductivity, which is more cost-effective and abundant, as compared to Ag. Moreover, the migration tendency of Cu is less than that of Ag. Thus, recently, Cu-based inks/pastes have gained increasing attention as conductive inks/pastes for printed/flexible electronics. However, the disadvantages of Cu-based inks/pastes are their instability against oxidation under an ambient condition and tendency to form insulating layers of Cu oxide, such as cuprous oxide (Cu2O) and cupric oxide (CuO). The formation of the Cu oxidation causes a low conductivity in sintered Cu films and interferes with the sintering of Cu particles. In this review, we summarize the surface and interface designs for Cu-based conductive inks/pastes, in which the strategies for the oxidation resistance of Cu and low-temperature sintering are applied to produce highly conductive Cu patterns/electrodes on flexible substrates. First, we classify the Cu-based inks/pastes and briefly describe the surface oxidation behaviors of Cu. Next, we describe various surface control approaches for Cu-based inks/pastes to achieve both the oxidation resistance and low-temperature sintering to produce highly conductive Cu patterns/electrodes on flexible substrates. These surface control approaches include surface designs by polymers, small ligands, core-shell structures, and surface activation. Recently developed Cu-based mixed inks/pastes are also described, and the synergy effect in the mixed inks/pastes offers improved performances compared with the single use of each component. Finally, we offer our perspectives on Cu-based inks/pastes for future efforts.

Printable Thick Copper Conductors from Optically Modulated Multidimensional Particle Mixtures

Printing techniques that enable the formation of arbitrarily designed architectures have been implemented in various research fields owing to their characteristic advantages in processing over other techniques. In particular, low-cost, printable conductors are of paramount importance in the production of highly functioning printed electronics. Among various candidates, copper (Cu) particle-based printable fluid has been regarded as the most promising constituent material in conjunction with the use of the flash-light-sintering (FLS) process in air. In this study, we synthesized surface-oxidation-suppressed Cu nanoparticles, sub-micronparticles, and flakes to regulate the optical absorption characteristics in FLS-processed, Cu-based printed conductors. Our results revealed clearly that the critical issues in FLS-processed conductors, namely, undesirable crack formation and a limitation of thickness, are resolved by adjusting the optical behaviors of particulate layers by variation of the composition of multidimensional mixture particles. It is suggested that crack-free, 13.2 μm thick printed Cu conductors can be generated with a resistivity of 11.4 μΩ cm by printing and FLS processes in air. The proposed alternative approach is demonstrated with electrical circuits comprising electrodes and interconnections.

Shape-Tuned Junction Resistivity and Self-Damping Dynamics in Intense Pulsed Light Sintering of Silver Nanostructure Films

Concurrently reducing processing temperature, electrical resistance, and material cost with scalable fabrication capabilities is critical for conductive elements of flexible and planar electronics. Intense pulsed light sintering (IPL) of mixed dissimilar-shape conductive nanostructures may achieve this goal. However, this potential is hindered by knowledge gaps on how dissimilarity in nanostructure shape affects interparticle neck growth kinetics in general and the self-damping coupling between neck growth and optical absorption in IPL. We study these phenomena for IPL of mixed Ag nanowires (NWs, 40 nm diameter, 100-200 μm length) and nanospheres (NSs, 40 nm diameter), both experimentally and by linking molecular dynamics simulations with optical modeling. An optimal 50:50 mixing ratio lowers resistivity (5.59 μΩ·cm) and peak temperatures (250-150 °C) relative to pure NS films and reduces material costs relative to pure NW films with similar resistivity, in 2.5 s of IPL. The drop in peak temperatures in consecutive optical pulses reduces with greater NW content. Sintering-induced dislocation generation drives higher neck growth at NW-NS and NW-NW interfaces and anisotropic neck growth at NW-NS interfaces. This indicates that when NWs are introduced into NS films, along with lesser number of interfacial contact points, an inherent reduction in sintering-induced junction resistivity plays a major role in reducing film resistivity. The self-damping coupling and optical absorption, which drive temperature evolution in IPL, are tunable by nanostructure shape. The introduction of NWs into a NS ensemble reduces the dependence of optical absorption on neck growth. We discuss how these insights elucidate a set of physical phenomena that can guide the choice of dissimilar shaped nanostructures to concurrently reduce resistivity and temperatures in IPL and other sintering processes.

Carbon nanotube functionalization as a route to enhancing the electrical and mechanical properties of Cu-CNT composites

Copper-CNT (carbon nanotube) composite materials are promising alternatives to conventional conductors in applications ranging from interconnects in microelectronics to electrical cabling in aircraft and vehicles. Unfortunately, exploiting the full potential of these composites is difficult due to the poor Cu-CNT electro-mechanical interface. We demonstrate through large-scale ab initio calculations and sonication experiments that this problem can be addressed by CNT surface modification. Our calculations show that covalent functionalization of CNTs below 6.7 at% significantly improves Cu-CNT wetting and the mechanical properties of the composite. Oxidative pre-treatment of CNTs enhances the Young's modulus of the composite by nearly a factor 3 above that of pure Cu, whereas amination slightly improves the electrical current density with respect to the unmodified Cu-CNT system in the high bias regime. However, only nitrogen doping can effectively improve both the mechanical and electrical properties of the composite. As the experiments show, consistent with the calculations, substitutional doping with nitrogen effectively improves adhesion of the CNT to the Cu matrix. We also predict an improvement in the mechanical properties for the composite containing doped double-wall CNTs. Moreover, the calculations indicate that the presence of nitrogen dopants almost doubles locally the transmission through the nanotube and reduces the back scattering in the Cu matrix around the CNT. The computed electrical conductance of N-doped Cu-CNT "carpets" exceeds that of an undoped system by ∼160%.

Hybrid Printing Metal-mesh Transparent Conductive Films with Lower Energy Photonically Sintered Copper/tin Ink

With the help of photonic sintering using intensive pulse light (IPL), copper has started to replace silver as a printable conductive material for printing electrodes in electronic circuits. However, to sinter copper ink, high energy IPL has to be used, which often causes electrode destruction, due to unreleased stress concentration and massive heat generated. In this study, a Cu/Sn hybrid ink has been developed by mixing Cu and Sn particles. The hybrid ink requires lower sintering energy than normal copper ink and has been successfully employed in a hybrid printing process to make metal-mesh transparent conductive films (TCFs). The sintering energy of Cu/Sn hybrid films with the mass ratio of 2:1 and 1:1 (Cu:Sn) were decreased by 21% compared to sintering pure Cu film, which is attributed to the lower melting point of Sn for hybrid ink. Detailed study showed that the Sn particles were effectively fused among Cu particles and formed conducting path between them. The hybrid printed Cu/Sn metal-mesh TCF with line width of 3.5 μm, high transmittance of 84% and low sheet resistance of 14 Ω/□ have been achieved with less defects and better quality than printed pure copper metal-mesh TCFs.

Fabrication of Conductive Copper Films on Flexible Polymer Substrates by Low-Temperature Sintering of Composite Cu Ink in Air

The development of a thermal sintering method for Cu-based inks under an air atmosphere could greatly expand their application for printed electronics. However, it is well-known that Cu-based inks cannot produce conductive Cu films when sintered at low temperatures in air because Cu readily oxidizes under such conditions. In this study, we have successfully demonstrated air atmosphere sintering at low temperatures (less than 150 °C) via a simple hot plate heat treatment for producing conductive Cu films on flexible polymer substrates, using a novel Cu-based composite ink with sub-10 nm Cu nanoparticles protected with 1-amino-2-propanol with micrometer-sized Cu particles and submicrometer-sized Cu particles; oxalic acid was also added to prevent the oxidation of the Cu during sintering. The Cu films showed a minimum resistivity of 5.5 × 10^-5 Ω·cm when sintered in air at 150 °C for a very short period of 10 s. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of sintering of Cu-based inks in air at less than 150 °C. Another novel property of the present Cu-based composite ink is the lowest reported resistivity at 80 °C under N₂ flow (5.3 × 10^-5 Ω·cm at 80 °C and 8.4 × 10^-6 Ω·cm at 120 °C). This fast, efficient, and inexpensive technology for thermal sintering in ambient air using composite inks could be a commercially viable method for fabricating printed electronics on flexible substrates.

Multi-pulse flash light sintering of bimodal Cu nanoparticle-ink for highly conductive printed Cu electrodes

In this work, bimodal Cu nano-inks composed of two different sizes of Cu nanoparticles (NPs) (40 and 100 nm in diameter) were successfully sintered with a multi-pulse flashlight sintering technique. Bimodal Cu nano-inks were fabricated and printed with various mixing ratios and subsequently sintered by a flash light sintering method. The effects of the flashlight sintering conditions, including irradiation energy and pulse number, were investigated to optimize the sintering conditions. A detailed mechanism of the sintering of bimodal Cu nano-ink was also studied via real-time resistance measurement during the sintering process. The sintered Cu nano-ink films were characterized using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. From these results, it was found that the optimal ratio of 40-100 nm NPs was found to be 25:75 wt%, and the optimal multi-pulse flash light sintering condition (irradiation energy: 6 J cm^-2, and pulse duration: 1 ms, off-time: 4 ms, and pulse number: 5) was found. The optimally sintered Cu nano-ink film exhibited the lowest resistivity of 5.68 μΩ cm and 5B adhesion level.

Two-component spin-coated Ag/CNT composite films based on a silver heterogeneous nucleation mechanism adhesion-enhanced by mechanical interlocking and chemical grafting

In this paper, a new method for the synthesis of silver carbon nanotube (Ag/CNT) composite films as conductive connection units for flexible electronic devices is presented. This method is about a two-component solution process by spin coating with an after-treatment annealing process. In this method, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) act as the core of silver heterogeneous nucleation, which can be observed and analyzed by a field-emission scanning electron microscope. With the effects of mechanical interlocking, chemical grafting, and annealing, the interfacial adhesive strength between films and PET sheets was enhanced to 12 N cm^-1. The tensile strength of the Ag/CNT composite films was observed to increase by 38% by adding 5 g l^-1 MWCNTs. In the four-probe method, the resistivity of Ag/CNT-5 declined by 78.2% compared with pristine Ag films. The anti-fatigue performance of the Ag/CNT composite films was monitored by cyclic bending deformation and the results revealed that the growth rate of electrical resistance during the deformation was obviously retarded. As for industrial application, this method provides an efficient low-cost way to prepare Ag/CNT composite films and can be further applied to other coating systems.

Self-Reducing Copper Precursor Inks and Photonic Additive Yield Conductive Patterns under Intense Pulsed Light

Printing conducting copper interconnections on plastic substrates is of growing interest in the field of printed electronics. Photonic curing of copper inks with intense pulsed light (IPL) is a promising process as it is very fast and thus can be incorporated in roll-to-roll production. We report on using IPL for obtaining conductive patterns from inks composed of submicron particles of copper formate, a copper precursor that has a self-reduction property. Decomposition of copper formate can be performed by IPL and is affected both by the mode of energy application and the properties of the printed precursor layer. The energy application mode was controlled by altering three pulse parameters: duration, intensity, and repetitions at 1 Hz. As the decomposition results from energy transfer via light absorption, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were added to the ink to increase the absorbance. We show that there is a strict set of IPL parameters necessary to obtain conductive copper patterns. Finally, we show that by adding as little as 0.5 wt % single-wall CNTs to the ink the absorptance was enhanced by about 50% and the threshold energy required to obtain a conductive pattern decreased by ∼25%. These results have major implications for tailoring inks intended for IPL processing.

Printed highly conductive Cu films with strong adhesion enabled by low-energy photonic sintering on low-Tg flexible plastic substrate

Copper (Cu) films and circuits were fabricated by screen-printing Cu nanoink on low-Tg (glass transition temperature) flexible plastic substrates (PEN and PET) instead of widely used high-Tg polyimide (PI) substrate. Photonic sintering of printed Cu films was carried out using intensive pulsed light (IPL). Low resistivities of 28 μΩ · cm on PEN and 44 μΩ · cm on PET were obtained without damaging the substrates. The sintered Cu films exhibited strong adhesion to PEN and PET substrates, with measured adhesion strength of 5B by the ASTM D3359 international standard, whereas the top part of the copper film on the PI substrate was stripped off during the adhesion test. The sintered Cu films also showed excellent stability in harsh conditions and mechanical flexibility in rolling tests. The underlying mechanisms of the high conductivity and strong adhesion on PEN and PET substrates with low-energy IPL sintering were investigated. Simple circuits and radio frequency identification antennas were made by screen-printing Cu nanoink and IPL sintering, demonstrating the technique's feasibility for practical applications.

Diameter-controlled Cu nanoparticles on saponite and preparation of film by using spontaneous phase separation

Cu nanoparticles have attracted much attention due to their optical, catalytic, and electrical properties.

Photonic sintering via flash white light combined with deep UV and NIR for SrTiO3 thin film vibration touch panel applications

An ultra-high speed photonic sintering method consisting of flash white light (FWL) combined with near infrared (NIR) and deep UV light irradiations was developed to fabricate a SrTiO₃ (STO) thin film for application in electro-vibration touch panels. The STO thin film was sintered on PEN by FWL irradiation at room temperature under ambient conditions, which is a dramatically simple and ultrahigh speed fabrication process compared to the conventional high temperature (600 °C-900 °C) thermal sintering process. The effects of the FWL irradiation conditions (energy density, pulse numbers, and pulse duration) on the dielectric constant of the sintered STO thin films were evaluated. Furthermore, the effects of NIR and deep UV irradiation during the FWL sintering process were also investigated.

Hybrid Copper-Silver Conductive Tracks for Enhanced Oxidation Resistance under Flash Light Sintering

We developed a simple method to prepare hybrid copper-silver conductive tracks under flash light sintering. The developed metal nanoparticle-based ink is convenient because its preparation process is free of any tedious washing steps. The inks were composed of commercially available copper nanoparticles which were mixed with formic acid, silver nitrate, and diethylene glycol. The role of formic acid is to remove the native copper oxide layer on the surface of the copper nanoparticles. In this way, it facilitates the formation of a silver outer shell on the surface of the copper nanoparticles through a galvanic replacement. In the presence of formic acid, the copper nanoparticles formed copper formate, which was present in the unsintered tracks. However, under illumination by a xenon flash light, the copper formate was then converted to copper. Moreover, the resistance of the copper-only films increased by 6 orders of magnitude when oxidized at high temperatures (∼220 °C). However, addition of silver nitrate to the inks suppressed the oxidation of the hybrid copper-silver films, and the resistance changes in these inks at high temperatures were greatly reduced. In addition, the hybrid inks proved to be advantageous for use in electrical circuits as they demonstrated a stable electrical conductivity after exposure to ambient air at 180 °C.

Photonic welding of ultra-long copper nanowire network for flexible transparent electrodes using white flash light sintering

A schematic representation of the white flash light welding process of a percolated Cu NW network electrode.