The industrial sector of flexible printed electronics has shown a dynamic growth in the last decades. Therefore, demand for new inks, coatings and printing methods leading to improved performances of the electronic components at room temperature is also increasing. Here, we present a study on the conductive properties of silver layers obtained by different coating and printing methods. The results obtained proved that drop-on-demand inkjet printing of water-based inks containing micron-sized silver flakes with narrow-size distribution is a feasible method for in situ fabrication of conductive silver coatings that does not require additional heat treatment. A rigorous optimization Taguchi experiment was carried out considering the major process parameters. This experiment showed that the printing pressure was the dominant factor defining the quality of the printed coatings and tracks.

Direct coating methods using metal particles from aqueous solutions or solvent-based inks become central in the roll-to-roll fabrication processes as these methods can lead to continuous or predefined conductive layers on a large variety of substrates. For good electrical conductivity, the metal particles have to be brought into contact, and traditionally, additional sintering treatments are required. Such treatments can degrade the sensitive substrates as paper or polymer films. In this study, the possibility of obtaining conductive layers at room temperature is investigated for direct coating methods with an emphasis on drop-casting and inkjet printing. Thus, it is shown that electrical conductive layers can be achieved if the metal particles can compact during the dropsubstrate impact interaction. It is theoretically shown that the compaction process is directly related to the particle and ink drop size, the initial fractional particle loading of the ink, solvent viscosity, and drop velocity. The theoretical predictions on compaction are experimentally validated, and the particle compaction's influence on changes in the electrical conductivity of the resulting layers is demonstrated. V C 2016 AIP Publishing LLC. [http://dx