Nanocellulose films as substrates for printed electronics

Microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) was fabricated from cellulose pulp using in-house mechanical fibrillation equipment. Subsequently, freestanding MFC films were fabricated with in-house developed hot-plate drying technique. The MFC films were tested as substrate materials for printed electronics patterns. Conducting patterns were fabricated on the MFC films using screen printing and vacuum evaporation. Electrical conductivity of the fabricated patterns was measured using four-wire technique. It was shown that the MFC films are suitable substrate materials for printing of functional electronic ink patterns, and thermal annealing of the patterns.