Ultrahigh Conductivity and Superior Interfacial Adhesion of a Nanostructured, Photonic-Sintered Copper Membrane for Printed Flexible Hybrid Electronics

• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.8b17164
• Publication Date: 2018-11-19T17:59:10Z
• Authors: Young-Tae Kwon; Yun-Soung Kim; Yongkuk Lee; Shinjae Kwon; Minseob Lim; Yoseb Song; Yong-Ho Choa; Woon-Hong Yeo
• Keywords: Flexible Electronics; Printed Electronics; 3d printed

Inkjet-printed electronics using metal particles typically lack electrical conductivity and interfacial adhesion with an underlying substrate. To address the inherent issues of printed materials, this Research Article introduces advanced materials processing methodologies. Enhanced inkjet-printed copper (Cu) on a flexible polyimide film is achieved by new surface modification technique, nanostructured self-assembled monolayer (SAM) (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane. A standardized test reveals superior strength (1192.27 N/m) Cu polymer film, while maintaining extreme mechanical flexibility proven 100 000 bending cycles. In addition to increased adhesion, SAM treatment prevents formation native oxide layers. The combination newly synthesized ink associated sintering technique intense pulsed ultraviolet visible light absorption enables ultrahigh (2.3 × 10–6 Ω·cm), which highest reported date. comprehensive engineering technologies offer highly reliable printing patterns for immediate use in wearable hybrid electronics. vivo demonstration printed, skin-conformal electrodes indicates very low skin-electrode impedance (<50 kΩ) without conductive gel successfully measures three types biopotentials, including electrocardiograms, electromyograms, electrooculograms.