EFFECT OF PRECOATING ON PROPERTIES OF FUNCTIONAL COATING AND ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY OF INKJET-PRINTED ELECTRONICS

In the present work, various surface treatments of base paper were investigated in order to make it suitable for application in printed electronics. A functional coating based on silica pigment was preceded by PVOH-containing precoating, and differently surface treated papers were characterized in terms of surface roughness, relative area of surface pores, wettability, printability and by FTIR spectroscopy. The precoating had a significant effect on the constriction of through-pores, the reduction of their number, and on the permeability of the functional coating, and it increased the dynamic contact angle of the liquids. Analysis of FTIR spectra of precoated and functionally coated paper confirmed a higher content of polyvinyl alcohol binder and cationic polymer in the functional coating, compared to that of functionally coated paper, without precoating. SEM analysis showed that the silver layer of the RFID antenna printed by inkjet on the precoated and functionally coated paper was continuous. Better printability of the precoated and functionally coated paper, compared to the functionally coated paper, without precoating, was also confirmed by higher electrical conductivity of the dipole of the RFID antenna, which reached the level of the antenna printed on a commercial inkjet PET film.