Synthesis of Ag–Pd Alloy Nanoparticles Suitable as Precursors for Ionic Migration-Resistant Conductive Film

Abstract Tetradecanoate-stabilized Ag–Pd alloy nanoparticles (NPs) were quantitatively synthesized by the controlled thermolysis of silver tetradecanoate and palladium tetradecanoate in the presence of tripropylamine. This approach is a one-pot synthetic method applicable to large-scale preparation. The Ag–Pd alloy NPs obtained at feeding ratios of Ag/Pd = 85/15, 50/50, and 15/85 have mean diameters of about 3 nm with narrow size distributions. The structure of Ag–Pd alloy NPs was solid solution face-centered cubic (fcc) crystalline structure, which was confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) measurement. The elemental compositions of the Ag–Pd alloy NPs corresponded closely with the feeding ratio of the precursors. The Ag–Pd alloy NPs were studied as printable precursors to fabricate conductive elements for printed electronics. The electronic circuit pattern was prepared by screen-printing, using Ag–Pd alloy NPs ink, and then converted to conductive film by annealing at 300 °C. The obtained metallic Ag–Pd alloy film had both high conductivity and ionic migration-resistance.