US uses graphene ink to print highly conductive flexible electrodes

According to a recent report by the Physicist Organization Network, researchers at the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University used inks containing tiny graphene sheets in an inkjet printing mode to print a 250-fold increase in conductivity and a slight decrease in conductivity when folded. Flexible electrodes, in the future, it is possible to produce electronic devices that are inexpensive, large, foldable and beautifully detailed. The research results were published in the latest issue of Physical Chemistry Letters.

Researcher Ethan B. Sikol explained that inkjet printing is an attractive way to produce electronic components by printing flexible substrates at low cost and over a large area. Previous studies have inkjet printed various components such as transistors, solar cells, light-emitting diodes, and sensors, but printing high-conductivity electrodes remains a challenge because it requires very fine resolution. The new research turns to graphene with high conductivity and chemical stability, and it is hoped that graphene can be used as an ink to print electrodes.

One of the most important steps in graphene printing is to obtain a large amount of graphene. At present, in the method of producing pure graphene by exfoliation, a solvent and a surfactant which are usually used leave a residue, thereby lowering the electrical conductivity thereof. Another problem is that small graphite sheets have high requirements for print stability and their large number of sheet boundaries also reduce electrical conductivity.

To overcome these problems, the researchers have developed a new method that uses ethanol as a solvent and ethyl cellulose as a stable surfactant at room temperature, and neither ethanol nor ethyl cellulose produces residue. Among the graphene black powders produced by the new method, the graphene sheets have a size of about 50 x 50 square nanometers and a thickness of about 2 nanometers. Although there are numerous snowflake-like connections between the platelet-sized graphenes, the high stability of the ethylcellulose polymer greatly reduces the electrical resistance between the sheets compared to other surfactants.

The researchers dispersed the graphene black powder into a solvent to create a liquid ink. It was found in the demonstration that graphene inks exhibited excellent morphology and electrical conductivity in printing, and the precise mode of printing was well suited for printing electrodes. They also evaluated the mechanical properties of graphene inks using polyimide as a substrate. It was found that the conductivity of the ink was very high, and even if the substrate was greatly bent, cracks began to appear and the conductivity remained unchanged. When they folded the substrate, the conductivity of the ink was only reduced by 5%. Mechanical performance tests have shown that graphene inks can be used to produce folded electronic devices in the future.

Professor Mark said: "In essence, all electronic devices and circuits require high-conductivity and high-resolution electronic contacts and interconnections. Therefore, graphene inks may affect a wide range of applications, especially Flexible electronics, folding electronics. Applications for these types of electronic devices include smartphones, tablets, flat panel displays and solar cells.

He also said that the future focus will be on the use of graphene printing for the assembly of electronic devices and circuits, including the various products in the application areas listed above.

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