In situ self-reducing Ag2O ink for the fabrication of highly flexible printed conductors

Abstract To solve the high cost and high sintering temperature of Ag nanoparticle inks and the poor storage stability of Ag precursor inks, an inexpensive and self-reducing Ag2O ink was designed for fabricating highly flexible printed conductors at low sintering temperature. The printed Ag2O inks can be in-situ reduced to Ag particles and form the conductive network, and the electrical properties and flexibility of the sintered Ag tracks were systematically investigated. Consequently, the printed Ag tracks sintered at 160 °C exhibit the low electrical resistivity of 1.38 × 10−4 Ω cm, and the relative resistances (R/Ro) of Ag tracks are less than 1.3 and 1.7 after 1000 times of the bending and twisting tests, respectively. These results demonstrate that the inexpensive Ag2O ink provides an attractive prospect for low temperature fabricating high-quality flexible printed conductors.