At Hannover Messe 2022, the Leibniz Institute for New Materials (INM) in Saabrück will be presenting conductive hybrid inks for inkjet printing. They consist of metal nanoparticles coated with conductive polymers and water or other polar solvents. The inks are suitable for printing conductive structures on thin polymer films or paper, for example. There is no need for post-treatment with heat or UV when using them. The 'Structure Formation' research group at the INM has also succeeded in scaling up the production of these hybrid inks so that small-scale production is currently possible.
Standard inks, such as those used in printed electronics, require sintering after inkjet printing in order to become conductive. The inks presented in Hanover no longer require this. They are based on gold nanoparticles with good biocompatibility and low toxicity, making them suitable for biomedical applications. Other applications include flexible photovoltaics, lighting, touchscreen electronics, wearable devices, large-area heating, sensors and 3D conformal antennas.
INM materials scientist Tobias Kraus: "The hybrid inks contain a small organic polymer component that helps to maintain electrical conductivity even when the substrate is bent." This makes it possible to print on almost all substrates such as films, papers or textiles, as the final sintering steps at relatively high temperatures are avoided. Samples of the material can be requested.
