Multijet Gold Nanoparticle Inks for Additive Manufacturing of Printed and Wearable Electronics

Abstract

Conductive and biofriendly gold nanomaterial inks are highly desirable for printed electronics, biosensors, wearable electronics, and electrochemical sensor applications. Here, we demonstrate the scalable synthesis of stable gold nanoparticle inks with low-temperature sintering using simple chemical processing steps. Multiprinter compatible aqueous gold nanomaterial inks were formulated, achieving resistivity as low as ∼10^–6 Ω m for 400 nm thick films sintered at 250 °C. Printed lines with a resolution of <20 μm and minimal overspray were obtained using an aerosol jet printer. The resistivity of the printed patterns reached ∼9.59 ± 1.2 × 10^–8 Ω m after sintering at 400 °C for 45 min. Our aqueous-formulated gold nanomaterial inks are also compatible with inkjet printing, extending the design space and manufacturability of printed and flexible electronics where metal work functions and chemically inert films are important for device applications.