P(St-AA)/Ag nano-composite particles as electrical conductive filler for conductive ink in printed electronics

In this study, Ag nanoparticles were anchored onto the surfaces of monodisperse sub-micron sized P(styrene-co-acrylic acid) (P(St-AA)) spheres via a simple modified electroless deposition to obtain core-shell structural P(St-AA)/Ag nano-composite particles, and used as electrical conductive filler for conductive ink. The synthetic conditions of the P(St-AA)/Ag nano-composite particles were studied, and the morphology, structure and thermal properties of the as-prepared particles were investigated. The results show that the silver particles were successfully completely coated on the surface of the polymer cores with a mono sized about 350 nm, and the size of the silver particles is between 20 nm and 80 nm. Conductive patterns were fabricated by silk-screen printing onto the flexible polyimide (PI) substrate using the P(St-AA)/Ag nano-composite particles as conductive fillers. A circular and orderly conductive silver interconnection network was obtained after the pattern was subjected a heat treatment at 150 °C for 120 min, and the resistivity of the pattern is 24.5 μΩ·cm. These metal coated polymer spheres are promising electrical conductive filler in a variety of electronic applications.