Surface modification of oleylamine-capped Ag–Cu nanoparticles to fabricate low-temperature-sinterable Ag–Cu nanoink

By treating oleylamine (OA)-capped Ag–Cu nanoparticles with tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH), we obtained metal nanoparticles that are suspended in polar solvents and sinterable at low temperatures. The simple process with ultra sonication enables synthesis of monodispersed and high purity nanoparticles in an organic base, where the resulting nanoparticles are dispersible in polar solvents such as ethanol and isopropyl alcohol. To investigate the surface characteristics, we conducted Fourier-transform infrared and zeta-potential analyses. After thermal sintering at 200 °C, which is approximately 150 °C lower than the thermal decomposition temperature of OA, an electrically conductive thin film was obtained. Electrical resistivity measurements of the TMAH-treated ink demonstrate that surface modified nanoparticles have a low resistivity of 13.7 × 10−6 Ω cm. These results confirm the prospects of using low-temperature sinterable nanoparticles as the electrode layer for flexible printed electronics without damaging other stacked polymer layers.