In-Depth Investigation of Inkjet-Printed Silver Electrodes over Large-Area: Ink Recipe, Flow, and Solidification

Inkjet-printed flexible transparent conducting electrodes (TCEs) have attracted much recent interest in realizing large-scale and high-volume fabrication required by the industrial production protocol. In this paper, an in-depth investigation and optimization of template-less inkjet printing for the metal meshes based TCEs are presented. The general principle of conductive ink formulation for inkjet printing, the droplet coalescence and crawling on the substrates, and its solidification processes are thoroughly studied. Ideal silver lines with high conductivity of 3.4 mu omega center dot cm can be obtained on various substrates, with fine line-width adjustment by step length of 5 mu m. The uniformity of the width, morphology, and conductivity of printed silver lines over large-area are improved by factors of 3.44, 1.53, and 1.95, respectively. Subsequently, passive matrix organic light emitting diodes based on silver array electrodes are fabricated to successfully light the point, line, and surface. A flexible silver mesh TCE is also printed, with low sheet resistance of 9.56 omega sq(-1) and good flexibility.