Research on Printed Conductive Silver Layer based on Inkjet Photo Paper

Printed electronics is an emerging technology that applies traditional printing or coating processes to the manufacture of electronic devices and products. In order to find a low-cost, high-performance, environmentally-friendly flexible substrate suitable for electronic devices, the printability between four kinds of inkjet photo papers and nano-silver ink was investigated. First, different surface morphologies of the inkjet photo papers were measured by a confocal laser scanning microscopy. Then, a pen and a gravure printer were used to test the printability between photo papers and nano-silver ink. It was found that the conductive track and pattern was influenced by the surface morphology of the photo papers. Furthermore, a four-probe test showed that the conductivity of the ink layers on the four photo papers was almost at the same level. Furthermore, a tearing test with 3 M tapes showed that the silk photo paper had the best tearing resistance. In general, silk photo paper has the best overall performance. This research could be beneficial for the development of flexible electronic devices which are low-cost, mass manufacture suitable and environment friendly. (C) 2022 Society for Imaging Science and Technology.