Evaluation of printed interdigital electrodes array for chemo-resistive gas sensor application

Abstract

In this article, we present the design and preparation of a platform for a gas sensor application based on the ink print of silver nanoparticles on flexible substrates. The Inkjet printing allows localized deposition of ink at low temperatures on a large area and can be used for the deposition of both conductive and dielectric materials. The printed platform consists of four interdigital electrodes (IDE), and connector pads printed with silver ink and sintered with an intense pulse light (IPL). The dielectric ink printed around the IDE structures protects the connection pathways and defines the sensing area. The multilayer structure was printed on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyimide (PI) substrates. Before printing, the plasma treatment of the surface of the polyimide is necessary. Three combinations of electrodes with various widths were designed and the structures were printed with three various resolutions to verify the printability on the used combination of substrate and ink. Bending tests, that show the flexibility of printed structures, were performed as well.