Engineers at Samsung in Korea have synthesised copper nanoparticles for use in inkjet-printed electronics.
According to the results reported in Nanotechnology, the formulation suits low-temperature sintering, which is significant as it opens the door to the use of inexpensive plastic substrates.
Inkjet printing is a versatile approach to patterning electronic circuits with additional benefits, such as the ability to perform corrective overprinting.
Silver inks have been shown to be effective but are relatively expensive. Copper is a cheaper alternative, but has proved much harder to formulate for inkjet printing applications.