Fabrication of Ag nanowires and Ag-graphite nanocomposite conductive adhesives by one-step hydrothermal method

Abstract

Significant advances in electronic industry have led toward the production of lighter, more efficient, and durable electronic components. Tin–lead connections have been the main alternative for electrical connections for several years; however, these have been banned due to enhanced environmental concerns. Therefore, studies have been focused on finding novel materials for electrical connections. Electrically conductive adhesives (ECAs) from polymer nanocomposites have been proposed as the main alternatives. In this study, epoxy-silver nanowires (Ag NWs) nanocomposite was used for this purpose. Ag NWs were synthesized via hydrothermal technique with 130 nm average diameters and ~ 10 μm average lengths. This was compared with Ag-graphite nanocomposite, and the effect of filler content on conductivity was investigated. Both ICA and ACA configurations showed specific characteristics like low sintering temperature and short sintering time. The sintering time was ~ 45 min, and the sintering temperature was ~ 60 °C. ICA and ACA configurations with Ag NW fillers showed the optimal results at 20 wt%. and 50 wt%, respectively, with the resistivity of 0.3 Ω and volume resistivity of 4 × 10^–4 Ω cm. Ag-graphite nanocomposite (ACA configuration) showed the best result at 12 wt% with a resistivity of 0.7 Ω.