All inkjet-printed flexible see-through heaters based on silver mesh pattern

Abstract

Heaters fabricated via printing conductive ink or paste on various flexible substrates have been extensively investigated. However, flexible/wearable heaters wherein all the functional structures (heater substrate, heating element, and cover layer) are fabricated via printing have not been reported. In this study, fully printed see-through conductors are fabricated using conductive Ag ink and dielectric ink and their potential for use as wearable see-through heaters is demonstrated. The relationship between the heater performance and the resistance of a printed Ag micromesh structure (which serves as the heating element) is analyzed. In addition, three types of printed heaters are fabricated based on different embedding configurations (three-sides open, one-side open, and fully embedded) of the Ag mesh electrodes, and their mechanical flexibilities are compared. The flexible heater based on the fully embedded Ag mesh structures exhibits remarkable mechanical flexibility. The rapid thermal response and high reliability of the printed flexible heaters are confirmed through Joule heating performance analysis. These results indicate the excellent potential of the proposed inkjet printing technology for the development of all-printed optoelectronics.