High electrical conductivity and bending resistance of Ag NPs/Ag flakes composite silver paste are achieved by sintering Ag NPs

Abstract

Abstract The investigation of conductive silver pastes and inks has witnessed extensive research within the domain of printed electronics in recent years, primarily owing to the exceptional electrical conductivity and steadfastness intrinsic to silver. This paper introduces an approach for the fabrication of stable, cost-effective, and low-resistance conductive silver paste tailored for flexible printed circuits. This method facilitates the solidification of the conductive silver paste into a highly conductive silver film at a curing temperature of 250 °C. In the process of preparing the conductive silver paste, Ag flakes is subject to modification through the incorporation of Ag NPs, which are subsequently sintered at a low temperature curing setting. The sintering of Ag NPs serves to establish connections between adjacent particles of Ag flakes within the paste, thereby enhancing the conductivity and flexibility of the resulting conductive printed silver film. When the ratio of Ag NPs to Ag flakes is maintained at 10:90, the volume resistivity of the Ag NPs-modified film registers at 2.7 × 10−5 Ω.cm. This demonstrates a substantial 53.45% reduction in the volume resistivity of the conductive printed silver film modified with Ag NPs, compared to its Ag NPs-absent counterpart. Post 200 cyclic bending tests, it becomes evident that the resistance change rate in the Ag NPs-modified conductive printed silver film is a mere 12.5%, whereas the Ag NPs-modified silver film lacking Ag NPs displays a resistance change rate of 21.5%. This discrepancy underscores the capacity of Ag NPs-modified Ag flakes to fortify the bending resistance of the conductive printed silver film. Comprehensive data analysis substantiates that the improvements in electrical conductivity and bending resistance can be attributed to the superior bridging facilitated by the sintering process on the surface of the Ag NPs-modified Ag flakes.