Investigation of Printing Properties on Paper Substrate

Abstract

In this article, the optimum printing parameters were found when using silver nanoparticle ink to print on Kodak 4-Star photo paper substrate. Fujifilm Dimatix 2831 was used as the inkjet printer. The printing parameters of interest included the number of printing layers, the drop spacing, and curing temperature of the ink. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) analysis of the experimental data reveals sintering temperature to be significant (p < 0.05) to improve the conductivity. Pattern conductivity and surface roughness were used to identify the optimum printing parameters. The optimum printing parameters were found to be 15 μm drop spacing, two printing layer, and a sintering temperature of 90°C. The best conductivity measured under the above mentioned condition was found to be 5.56 × 106 Ω−1m−1. Further, the bending test indicated that the printed patterns were unaffected (in terms of conductivity) when flexed around a cylindrical support indicating excellent stability under stress. This study paves the way for developing mechanically robust flexible devices with excellent electrical properties for Internet of Things (IoT) applications.