Special Issue on Flexible and Wearable Electronics: from Materials to Applications

Inkjet printed large-area flexible circuits: a simple methodology for optimizing the printing quality

Tao Cheng1, §, Youwei Wu1, §, Xiaoqin Shen1, Wenyong Lai1, 2, and Wei Huang1, 2

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 Corresponding author: Wenyong Lai, Email: iamwylai@njupt.edu.cn

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Abstract: In this work, a simple methodology was developed to enhance the patterning resolution of inkjet printing, involving process optimization as well as substrate modification and treatment. The line width of the inkjet-printed silver lines was successfully reduced to 1/3 of the original value using this methodology. Large-area flexible circuits with delicate patterns and good morphology were thus fabricated. The resultant flexible circuits showed excellent electrical conductivity as low as 4.5 Ω/□ and strong tolerance to mechanical bending. The simple methodology is also applicable to substrates with various wettability, which suggests a general strategy to enhance the printing quality of inkjet printing for manufacturing high-performance large-area flexible electronics.

Key words: inkjet printingflexible circuitspatterning resolutionlarge-area electronicsflexible electronics



[1]
Cheng T, Zhang Y Z, Lai W Y, et al. Stretchable thin-film electrodes for flexible electronics with high deformability and stretchability. Adv Mater, 2015, 27(22): 3349 doi: 10.1002/adma.v27.22
[2]
Chen J Y, Lau Y C, Coey J M, et al. High performance MgO-barrier magnetic tunnel junctions for fleixble and wearable spintronic applications. Sci Rep, 2017, 7: 42001 doi: 10.1038/srep42001
[3]
Li Q, Zhang L N, Tao X M, et al. Review of flexible temperature sensing networks for wearable physiological monitoring. Adv Healthcare Mater, 2017, 6(12): 1601371 doi: 10.1002/adhm.v6.12
[4]
Gao W, Emaminejad S, Nyein H Y Y, et al. Fully integrated wearable sensor arrays for multiplexed in situ perspiration analysis. Nature, 2016, 529(7587): 509 doi: 10.1038/nature16521
[5]
Yang J, Zhu K, Ran Y, et al. Joint Admission control and routing via approximate dynamic programming for streaming video over software-defined networking. IEEE Trans Multimed, 2017, 19(3): 619 doi: 10.1109/TMM.2016.2629280
[6]
He J W, Nuzzo R G, Rogers J A. Inorganic materials and assembly techniques for flexible and stretchable electronics. Proce IEEE, 2015, 103(4): 619 doi: 10.1109/JPROC.2015.2396991
[7]
Tsuchiya A, Sugama H, Sunamoto T, et al. Low-loss and high-speed transmission flexible printed circuits based on liquid crystal polymer films. Electron Lett, 2012, 48(19): 1216 doi: 10.1049/el.2012.2779
[8]
Kuang M X, Wang L B, Song Y L. Controllable printing droplets for high-resolution patterns. Adv Mater, 2014, 26(40): 6950 doi: 10.1002/adma.v26.40
[9]
Cheng T, Zhang Y Z, Yi J P, et al. Inkjet-printed flexible, transparent and aesthetic energy storage devices based on PEDOT: PSS/Ag grid electrodes. J Mater Chem A, 2016, 4(36): 13754 doi: 10.1039/C6TA05319J
[10]
Yang L, Cheng T, Zeng W J, et al. Inkjet-printed conductive polymer films for optoelectronic devices. Prog Chem, 2015, 27(11): 1615
[11]
Xing R B, Ye T L, Ding Y, et al. Thickness uniformity adjustment of inkjet printed light-emitting polymer films by solvent mixture. Chin J Chem, 2013, 31(11): 1449 doi: 10.1002/cjoc.v31.11
[12]
Gaspar C, Passoja S, Olkkonen J, et al. IR-sintering efficiency on inkjet-printed conductive structures on paper substrates. Microelectron Eng, 2016, 149: 135 doi: 10.1016/j.mee.2015.10.006
[13]
Xie L, Feng Y, Mäntysalo M, et al. Integration of f-MWCNT sensor and printed circuits on paper substrate. IEEE Sens J, 2013, 13(10): 3948 doi: 10.1109/JSEN.2013.2260534
[14]
Walker S B, Lewis J A. Reactive silver inks for patterning high-conductivity features at mild temperatures. J Am Chem Soc, 2012, 134(3): 1419 doi: 10.1021/ja209267c
[15]
Noh Y Y, Zhao N, Caironi M, et al. Downscaling of self-aligned, all-printed polymer thin-film transistors. Nat Nanotech, 2007, 2(12): 784 doi: 10.1038/nnano.2007.365
[16]
Li Z, Wang J, Zhang Y, et al. Closed-air induced composite wetting on hydrophilic ordered nanoporous anodic alumina. Appl Phys Lett, 2010, 97(23): 233107 doi: 10.1063/1.3527076
[17]
Kim J Y, Pfeiffer K, Voigt A, et al. Directly fabricated multi-scale microlens arrays on a hydrophobic flat surface by a simple ink-jet printing technique. J Mater Chem, 2012, 22(7): 3053 doi: 10.1039/c2jm15576a
[18]
Galliker P, Schneider J, Eghlidi H, et al. Direct printing of nanostructures by electrostatic autofocussing of ink nanodroplets. Nat Commun, 2012, 3: 890 doi: 10.1038/ncomms1891
Fig. 1.  (Color online) (a) The waveforms used to print silver lines. (b) The optical image of the inkjet-printed silver lines on PDMS/PET substrate without plasma treatment, splitting into a series of scatters.

Fig. 2.  (Color online) Optical microscopic images of the printed Ag lines on PET substrate, showing the line width changing with the drop spacing and the substrate temperature.

Fig. 3.  (Color online) Optical microscopic images of the printed Ag lines on PDMS/PET substrate, showing the line width changing with the drop spacing and the time of the plasma treatment.

Fig. 4.  (Color online) The line width changing with various parameters. (a) Line width as a function of substrate temperature and drop spacing. (b) Line width as a function of plasma treatment time and drop spacing.

Fig. 5.  (Color online) SEM images of the optimized silver lines with different magnification.

Fig. 6.  (Color online) (a) Photograph of the inkjet-printed flexible silver grids (using the optimized process) and the optical microscopic image of its microstructure (inset). (b) and (c) Photographs of the large-area flexible inkjet-printed circuits (using the optimized process) before and after bending. (d) Photograph of the inkjet printed circuits without using the optimized process.

Fig. 7.  (Color online) PDMS-based circuits under different deformed conditions: (a) bent; (b) twisted; (c) rolled; (d) crumpled; and (e) stretched. (f) The circuits powering the LEDs under folded condition.

Fig. 8.  (Color online) (a) Electrical conductivity changing with bending cycles. (b) Schematic illustration of bending test. (c) The silver lines powering the LEDs under bending condition.

Fig. 9.  (Color online) The morphology of the printed silver lines (a) before and (b) after bending.

Table 1.   Specification of silver inks.

Solid content (%) Viscosity (cPs) Surface tension (mN/m) Solvent Particle size (nm)
30–35 10–17 35–38 Triethylene glycol monoethyl ether 50–80
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[1]
Cheng T, Zhang Y Z, Lai W Y, et al. Stretchable thin-film electrodes for flexible electronics with high deformability and stretchability. Adv Mater, 2015, 27(22): 3349 doi: 10.1002/adma.v27.22
[2]
Chen J Y, Lau Y C, Coey J M, et al. High performance MgO-barrier magnetic tunnel junctions for fleixble and wearable spintronic applications. Sci Rep, 2017, 7: 42001 doi: 10.1038/srep42001
[3]
Li Q, Zhang L N, Tao X M, et al. Review of flexible temperature sensing networks for wearable physiological monitoring. Adv Healthcare Mater, 2017, 6(12): 1601371 doi: 10.1002/adhm.v6.12
[4]
Gao W, Emaminejad S, Nyein H Y Y, et al. Fully integrated wearable sensor arrays for multiplexed in situ perspiration analysis. Nature, 2016, 529(7587): 509 doi: 10.1038/nature16521
[5]
Yang J, Zhu K, Ran Y, et al. Joint Admission control and routing via approximate dynamic programming for streaming video over software-defined networking. IEEE Trans Multimed, 2017, 19(3): 619 doi: 10.1109/TMM.2016.2629280
[6]
He J W, Nuzzo R G, Rogers J A. Inorganic materials and assembly techniques for flexible and stretchable electronics. Proce IEEE, 2015, 103(4): 619 doi: 10.1109/JPROC.2015.2396991
[7]
Tsuchiya A, Sugama H, Sunamoto T, et al. Low-loss and high-speed transmission flexible printed circuits based on liquid crystal polymer films. Electron Lett, 2012, 48(19): 1216 doi: 10.1049/el.2012.2779
[8]
Kuang M X, Wang L B, Song Y L. Controllable printing droplets for high-resolution patterns. Adv Mater, 2014, 26(40): 6950 doi: 10.1002/adma.v26.40
[9]
Cheng T, Zhang Y Z, Yi J P, et al. Inkjet-printed flexible, transparent and aesthetic energy storage devices based on PEDOT: PSS/Ag grid electrodes. J Mater Chem A, 2016, 4(36): 13754 doi: 10.1039/C6TA05319J
[10]
Yang L, Cheng T, Zeng W J, et al. Inkjet-printed conductive polymer films for optoelectronic devices. Prog Chem, 2015, 27(11): 1615
[11]
Xing R B, Ye T L, Ding Y, et al. Thickness uniformity adjustment of inkjet printed light-emitting polymer films by solvent mixture. Chin J Chem, 2013, 31(11): 1449 doi: 10.1002/cjoc.v31.11
[12]
Gaspar C, Passoja S, Olkkonen J, et al. IR-sintering efficiency on inkjet-printed conductive structures on paper substrates. Microelectron Eng, 2016, 149: 135 doi: 10.1016/j.mee.2015.10.006
[13]
Xie L, Feng Y, Mäntysalo M, et al. Integration of f-MWCNT sensor and printed circuits on paper substrate. IEEE Sens J, 2013, 13(10): 3948 doi: 10.1109/JSEN.2013.2260534
[14]
Walker S B, Lewis J A. Reactive silver inks for patterning high-conductivity features at mild temperatures. J Am Chem Soc, 2012, 134(3): 1419 doi: 10.1021/ja209267c
[15]
Noh Y Y, Zhao N, Caironi M, et al. Downscaling of self-aligned, all-printed polymer thin-film transistors. Nat Nanotech, 2007, 2(12): 784 doi: 10.1038/nnano.2007.365
[16]
Li Z, Wang J, Zhang Y, et al. Closed-air induced composite wetting on hydrophilic ordered nanoporous anodic alumina. Appl Phys Lett, 2010, 97(23): 233107 doi: 10.1063/1.3527076
[17]
Kim J Y, Pfeiffer K, Voigt A, et al. Directly fabricated multi-scale microlens arrays on a hydrophobic flat surface by a simple ink-jet printing technique. J Mater Chem, 2012, 22(7): 3053 doi: 10.1039/c2jm15576a
[18]
Galliker P, Schneider J, Eghlidi H, et al. Direct printing of nanostructures by electrostatic autofocussing of ink nanodroplets. Nat Commun, 2012, 3: 890 doi: 10.1038/ncomms1891
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    Received: 29 July 2017 Revised: 02 October 2017 Online: Accepted Manuscript: 27 December 2017Published: 01 January 2018

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      Tao Cheng, Youwei Wu, Xiaoqin Shen, Wenyong Lai, Wei Huang. Inkjet printed large-area flexible circuits: a simple methodology for optimizing the printing quality[J]. Journal of Semiconductors, 2018, 39(1): 015001. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/39/1/015001 T Cheng, Y W Wu, X Q Shen, W Y Lai, W Huang, Inkjet printed large-area flexible circuits: a simple methodology for optimizing the printing quality[J]. J. Semicond., 2018, 39(1): 015001. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/39/1/015001.Export: BibTex EndNote
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      Tao Cheng, Youwei Wu, Xiaoqin Shen, Wenyong Lai, Wei Huang. Inkjet printed large-area flexible circuits: a simple methodology for optimizing the printing quality[J]. Journal of Semiconductors, 2018, 39(1): 015001. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/39/1/015001

      T Cheng, Y W Wu, X Q Shen, W Y Lai, W Huang, Inkjet printed large-area flexible circuits: a simple methodology for optimizing the printing quality[J]. J. Semicond., 2018, 39(1): 015001. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/39/1/015001.
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      Inkjet printed large-area flexible circuits: a simple methodology for optimizing the printing quality

      doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/39/1/015001
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      Project supported by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (Nos. 2014CB648300, 2017YFB0404501), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21422402, 21674050), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Nos. BK20140060, BK20130037, BK20140865, BM2012010), the Program for Jiangsu Specially-Appointed Professors (No. RK030STP15001), the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (No. NCET-13-0872), the NUPT "1311 Project" and Scientific Foundation (Nos. NY213119, NY213169), the Synergetic Innovation Center for Organic Electronics and Information Displays, the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD), the Leading Talent of Technological Innovation of National Ten-Thousands Talents Program of China, the Excellent Scientific and Technological Innovative Teams of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (No. TJ217038), the Program for Graduate Students Research and Innovation of Jiangsu Province (No. KYZZ16-0253), and the 333 Project of Jiangsu Province (Nos. BRA2017402, BRA2015374).

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      • Corresponding author: Email: iamwylai@njupt.edu.cn
      • Received Date: 2017-07-29
      • Revised Date: 2017-10-02
      • Published Date: 2018-01-01

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