Silver nano-ink for aerosol-jet (M³D) printed solar electrodes Available to Purchase

The authors have developed a silver-nanoparticle-based ink formulation for aerosol-jet-based printing technique called "Maskless Mesoscale Material Deposition" or M³D™. A wet chemistry precursor-based approach was used to prepare ligand-capped silver nanoparticles where the reduction of silver salt was carried out in a controlled organic media. This synthesis yields 4–5-nm particles, which were characterized using transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, UV-Vis Absorption spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). TGA results show weight loss and sintering at low temperature (~170ºC) due to the burning off the ligands. Low-temperature sintering makes the use of this ink attractive for printing conductive patterns on flexible substrates such as Kapton or photo paper. A four-point probe resistance measurement was done on printed tracks, which yields conductivity ~40% of bulk silver.