Cobalt Nanoparticle Inks for Printed High Frequency Applications on Polycarbonate

Abstract

In this work the high frequency properties of low curing temperature cobalt nanoparticle inks printed on polycarbonate substrates were investigated. The inks consisted of 30-70 vol.% metallic cobalt nanoparticles and poly (methylene methacrylate) polymer, having excellent adhesion on polycarbonate and a curing temperature of 110°C. The influence of binder material content on the electromagnetic properties of the ink was investigated using the shorted microstrip transmission-line perturbation method. Changes in mechanical properties were evaluated with adhesion tests using the pull-out strength test and the ASTM D 3359-B cross-hatch tape peel test. The microstructure of the printed patterns was investigated with field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The inks remained mechanically durable with metal contents up to 60 vol.%, achieving pull-off strength of up to 5.2 MPa and the highest marks in adhesion of the tape peel test. The inks obtained a relative permeability of 1.5-3 in the 45 MHz-10 GHz band with a magnetic loss tangent of 0.01-0.06. The developed inks can be utilized in various printed electronics applications such as antenna miniaturization, antenna substrates and magnetic sensors or sensing.

Microwave properties of sphere-, flake-, and disc-shaped BaFe12O19 nanoparticle inks for high-frequency applications on printed electronics

“…GHz (¼ λ resonance) and 9 GHz (¾ λ resonance) [19]. The ink with the sphere-shaped particles exhibited the highest real and imaginary permeability values, whereas the permeability values of the inks with the flakeand disc-shaped particles are lower, both having quite similar frequency characteristics over the frequency band of 2-10 GHz.…”

Metallic Nanoparticle Inks for 3D Printing of Electronics

“…[26] Cobalt's melting temperature is at 1768 K. [26] Cobalt's high permeability and permittivity properties generate much research interests to formulate conductive cobalt nanoparticle inks for printed electronics applications, specifically to applications which require interactions with electromagnetic waves and high frequencies. [104][105][106] Nevertheless, some researchers formulate printable cobalt nanoparticle inks in-house with commercially available cobalt nanoparticles.…”

“…• Good electrical and thermal conductivity • Corrosion resistant [26] • [104][105][106] • Antenna miniaturization [104,105] • Antenna substrates [104,105] • Magnetic sensors or sensing [104,105] • Thermal sintering [104,105] • Thermal sintering at 350 °C for 10 min [104,105] • Relative permeability and magnetic loss tangent values ranging between 1.5 and 3 and 0.01 and 0.06, respectively, in the 45 MHz-10 GHz band [104] • Nelo et al [ • Thermal sinteirng [109,110] • Intense pulse light (IPL) sintering [108][109][110] • Thermal sintering at temperatures more than 350…”

“…Nevertheless, some researchers formulate printable cobalt nanoparticle inks in‐house with commercially available cobalt nanoparticles. Nelo et al formulated cobalt nanoparticle inks for screen printing applications and the printed patterns only required 10 min of sintering at 110 °C. Their cobalt nanoparticle inks had relative permeability and magnetic loss tangent values ranging between 1.5 and 3 and 0.01 and 0.06, respectively, in the 45 MHz–10 GHz band .…”

“…Their cobalt nanoparticle inks had relative permeability and magnetic loss tangent values ranging between 1.5 and 3 and 0.01 and 0.06, respectively, in the 45 MHz–10 GHz band . These cobalt nanoparticle inks allow more explorations of printed electronics applications such as fabrications of radio frequency absorbers, antennas, magnetic sensors, filters, resonators, and phase shifters …”