Sintering of inkjet-printed silver nanoparticles by large-area atmospheric pressure nitrogen plasma

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Abstract
Silver nanoparticles were sintered at atmospheric pressure using nitrogen plasma generated by diffuse coplanar surface barrier discharge (DCSBD). Compared to the standard thermal sintering of 1 h at 140 °C only 8 min of nonthermal plasma treatment at 50 °C were necessary to sufficiently anneal the silver nanoparticle film. Electrical resistivity as low as 9 × 10–6 Ω cm was achieved, i.e., 17% of the bulk conductivity of silver. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to study the removal of organic moieties from the surface of the inkjet-printed layers. Scanning electron microscopy revealed in detail the process of formation of interconnection between nanoparticles. Our findings pave the way for implementing low-cost and eco-friendly DCSBD plasma sintering into continuous roll-to-roll processing in the future for the annealing of silver nanoparticles on substrates that cannot tolerate high temperatures.
Funding Information
  • Ministerstvo Školství, Mládeže a Tělovýchovy (LM2023039, LM2023051)
  • Masarykova Univerzita (CZ.02.2.69/0.0/0.0/19_073/0016943)
  • Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (Joint Lab GEN_FAB)
  • Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

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