Synthesized silver nanoparticles decorated reduced graphene oxide/silver ink for aerosol jet printed conformal temperature sensor with a wide sensing range and excellent stability

• Published in: Journal of materials research and technology Vol. 25; pp. 873 - 886
• Main Authors: Niu, Yingjie, Han, Yufei, Cheng, Hui, Xiong, Zhenxiang, Luo, Bin, Ma, Teng, Li, Lingbo, Liu, Shunuan, Chen, Xiaoming, Yi, Chenglin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.07.2023; Elsevier
• Subjects: Aerosol jet printing; Conformal temperature sensor; Ink formulation; Silver nanoparticle; Silver nanoparticles decorated reduced graphene oxide; Ink formulation; Conformal temperature sensor; Silver nanoparticles decorated reduced graphene oxide; Silver nanoparticle; Aerosol jet printing
• ISSN: 2238-7854
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmrt.2023.05.246

Three-dimensional (3D) conformal printing of temperature sensors with a wide sensing range and high stability requires the potential printable material with excellent functionality and printability. Herein, a high-performance silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) decorated reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/Ag (ADR/Ag) ink with low viscosity was synthesized for aerosol jet printing (AJP). Ag ions are electrostatically adsorbed on the graphene oxide (GO) surface, and Ag NPs (∼10 nm) were attached onto the RGO surface by in-situ liquid-phase reduction. The ADR nanoflakes were mixed with commercial Ag NPs ink, high resolution patterns with ink stream widths down to 10 μm are printed, and ADR/Ag-0.8% ink shows excellent low-temperature sintering capability and flexibility, and the resistivity of the printed traces is 9.79 × 10−5 Ω m after 1 h sintering at a relatively low temperature (75 °C). The resistance negligibly increases by only 5% after 1000 bending cycles, which is about 7 times lower compared to the pure Ag traces. Furthermore, we achieve the 3D printing of a conformal temperature sensor with a sensitivity range of (1.162–1.519) × 10−3/°C in the broad sensing range of 0–200 °C. These findings shed light on the additive manufacturing of high-performance conformal electronics using the emerging AJP technology.