Pen‐on‐paper flexible electronics are fabricated using a conductive silver ink‐filled rollerball pen. This approach provides a low‐cost, portable route for fabricating conductive text, electronic art, interconnects for light emitting diode (LED) arrays, and three‐dimensional (3D) antennas on paper.

Printed electronics rely on low-cost, large-area fabrication routes to create flexible or multidimensional electronic, optoelectronic, and biomedical devices [1][2][3] . In this paper, we focus on one-(1D), two-(2D), and three-dimensional (3D) printing of conductive metallic inks in the form of flexible, stretchable, and spanning microelectrodes. Direct-write assembly4,5 is a 1-to-3D printing technique that enables the fabrication of features ranging from simple lines to complex structures by the deposition of concentrated inks through fine nozzles (~0.1 -250 μm). This printing method consists of a computer-controlled 3-axis translation stage, an ink reservoir and nozzle, and 10x telescopic lens for visualization. Unlike inkjet printing, a droplet-based process, directwrite assembly involves the extrusion of ink filaments either in-or out-of-plane. The printed filaments typically conform to the nozzle size. Hence, microscale features (< 1 μm) can be patterned and assembled into larger arrays and multidimensional architectures.In this paper, we first synthesize a highly concentrated silver nanoparticle ink for planar and 3D printing via direct-write assembly. Next, a standard protocol for printing microelectrodes in multidimensional motifs is demonstrated. Finally, applications of printed microelectrodes for electrically small antennas, solar cells, and light-emitting diodes are highlighted.

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