The main problem in preparing stable and printable inks containing nanoparticles for inkjet printing is to overcome the strong agglomeration of the particles in dispersion medium. In this study, the silver particles with diameter around 50 nm were produced by a simple wet chemistry method. Stable aqueous printable inks were formulated by using the combination of a triblock copolymer and high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). Various factors that affect the ink stability, such as, copolymer content and time of HIFU treatment, were investigated. The ink containing 5 wt% silver has a viscosity of about 2 mPas and surface tension 30 mN/m at 25 • C, which meet inkjet printer requirements. Such inks have been successfully printed on Al 2 O 3 ceramics and low-temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) and the printed films show low resistivity.

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In this paper, the formulation of a high Ag loading (45 wt %) aqueous ink and its subsequent printing on three different ceramic substrates were reported. Monodispersed Ag nanoparticles with a size down to 10 nm were successfully synthesized in aqueous medium. These nanoparticles were then successfully dispersed up to 45 wt% in aqueous medium with the aid of a co-polymer, Pluronic F127. The printed tracks show the electrical conductivity of 3μΩcm close to the value of silver bulk (1.6 μΩcm). The use of high solid loading inks reduces the number of printed layers required for thick, dense and conductive film thus leading to the reduction of the costs, and high efficiency of the printing process. High solid loading also results in the finer printed features. The effect of substrates, printing temperature and dot spacing on the size and morphology of printed silver features was investigated. Increasing the dot spacing together with the substrates temperature resulted in the limited ink spreading, hence narrow printed line and improved geometry of printed patterns.

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