Hopping conduction on conductive inks for wearable electronics

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics Vol. 24; no. 6; pp. 2091 - 2097
• Main Authors: Rubinger, C. P. L., Junqueira, V., Ribeiro, G. M., Rubinger, R. M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.06.2013; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Carbon black; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Conduction; Conductivity phenomena in semiconductors and insulators; Density; Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering; Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures; Electronic transport in condensed matter; Electronic transport in multilayers, nanoscale materials and structures; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Inks; Materials; Materials Science; Mobility edges ; hopping transport; Optical and Electronic Materials; Physics; Polyurethane resins; Three dimensional; Wearable; Carbon Black; Percolation Threshold; Carbon Black Particle; Carbon Black Mass Concentration; Carbon Black Powder; Electrical conductivity; Carbon black; Composite material; Hopping conduction; Serigraphy; Three dimensional model; Polyurethane; Differential method; Activation energy; Filler; Protective coatings; Low temperature; Electrical characteristic
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-013-1063-z

This work describes the preparation and electrical characterization of conducting carbon black on polyurethane and polyvinyl commercially available screen printing inks. Resistivity dependence with temperature for samples containing 3.0, 4.4, 5.0, 8.0 and 10.7 % filler mass concentration were investigated from 5 to 310 K. By using the differential activation energy method, it will be demonstrated that Mott type variable range hopping 3D conduction model is the predominant transport mechanism on the studied composites at low temperatures. Besides, the variable range hopping parameter and its subproducts were obtained: the mean hopping distance, the density of active centres and the energy associated with it. Variable range hopping 3D conduction is associated with an increase of the interchain connectivity. In the present work, this role is played by the carbon black. The carbon black/polyurethane and carbon black/polyvinyl composites are promising conducting coatings for using in wearable electronics as suggested by experimental results.