Engineers at Oregon State University, Corvallis, report that they have invented a way to fabricate silver nanoparticles that are produced at room temperature for printed electronics. Silver has long been considered for the advantages it offers in electronic devices. Because of its conductive properties, it is efficient and also stays cool. However, high temperatures are frequently needed, making silver unsuitable for use on some substrates, such as plastics that might melt or papers that might burn.
“There’s a great deal of interest in printed electronics, because they’re fast, cheap, can be done in small volumes, and can be changed easily,” says Chih-hung Chang, a professor in the OSU College of Engineering. “But the heat needed for most applications of silver nanoparticles has limited their use.”
OSU scientists have solved that problem by using a microreactor to create silver nanoparticles at room temperatures without any protective coating, and then immediately printing them onto almost any substrate with a continuous flow process.
“Because we could now use different substrates such as plastics, glass or even paper, these electronics could be flexible, very inexpensive and stable,” Prof. Chang said. “This could be quite important and allow us to use silver in many more types of electronic applications.”
Among those, he said, could be solar cells, printed circuit boards, low-emissivity coatings, or transparent electronics. A microchannel applicator used in the system will allow the creation of smaller, more complex electronics features.
