Metal nanoparticles are among the most commonly used conductive materials for printed electronics, and typically require consolidation via a two-step process: solvent evaporation upon printing (pinning) and subsequent low-temperature sintering (120–200 ☌) 4, 15, 27, 28, 29, 30, enabling conductive tracks on polymer substrates 2, 4, 7. This is due to challenges in both manufacturing techniques and choices of materials, of which there is a lack of comprehensive understanding.

However, the performance of printed parts is not competitive with those made by traditional manufacturing methods. Ink jetting of inks containing colloidal materials, such as metal nanoparticles 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, germania-silica 9, semiconductor quantum dots 10, intrinsically conductive polymer colloids 11 and magnetic nanoparticles 12, have been successfully employed in applications ranging from flexible and wearable electronics 2, 7, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 to quantum optoelectronic devices 20, 21, 22 and fully printed perovskite solar cells 23, 24, 25, 26. Understanding the behaviour of organic residues in printed nanoparticles reveals potential new strategies to improve nanomaterial ink formulations for functional printed electronics.ĭigitally printed electronics are a driver for novel research in various fields owing to their design flexibility as well as other advantages such as expedited time-to-market 1, 2, 3. We employ a combination of electrical resistivity tests, morphological analysis and 3D nanoscale chemical analysis of printed devices using silver nanoparticles to show that the polymer stabiliser polyvinylpyrrolidone tends to concentrate between vertically stacked nanoparticle layers as well as at dielectric/conductive interfaces. Here, we reveal that anisotropic electrical conductivity of printed metal nanoparticles is caused by organic residuals from their inks. However, the performance of printed devices, especially their electrical conductivity, is lower than those made by traditional manufacturing methods and is not fully understood.

Inkjet printing of metal nanoparticles allows for design flexibility, rapid processing and enables the 3D printing of functional electronic devices through co-deposition of multiple materials.

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