SBIR Phase I: Nickel-based printable metal electrodes on flexible substrates

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将开发可打印的镍材料和激光还原烧结工艺，以在柔性基板上生产高分辨率金属电极。 使用基于金属纳米颗粒的导电油墨的丝网印刷或喷墨印刷是用于光电器件的直接金属化的有吸引力的低成本技术。 今天吗？的导电墨水和导电膏主要由银制成。 然而，银价格昂贵且价格波动较大，而终端消费品的价格压力不断增加。 因此，人们正在寻找银的替代品，但用廉价金属如铜和镍代替银的主要挑战是避免它们在环境条件下氧化。 我们的创新通过将空气稳定的氧化镍纳米颗粒与激光加工相结合来解决这一问题，其中激光诱导直接局部光化学还原、团聚和烧结。 此外，通过采用激光直写图案化，非导电氧化镍膜可以在一个步骤中转化为图案化的导电镍电极，而不依赖于复杂的工艺工具。 该项目将通过对光化学、油墨配方和激光工艺优化的严格理解，证明镍的印刷导电性与银的导电性相当，从而使这项技术商业化。 该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是促进和推进印刷电子产品，这是一个在各个终端用户行业具有巨大增长潜力的新兴市场。 大规模印刷电子产品的商业化取决于许多不同应用领域中用于导电电极的低成本材料和工艺的开发，包括智能包装、射频识别标签、柔性显示器、生物传感器、光电子学、薄膜电池和智能纺织品。 传统的电子系统是使用光刻法制造的，这是一种复杂的多步骤工艺，需要昂贵的设施，并产生大量有害废物，破坏环境。 纳米技术的进步可以将廉价和更自然丰富的金属（如镍）转化为性能优于银的功能材料。 如今，银油墨和银浆的总市场超过70亿美元。 如果成功的话，这个项目开发的产品可以占领这个市场的很大份额。 可印刷电子是一项颠覆性的技术，对美国产生了深远的影响。制造业竞争力。拟议的项目可以建立这项技术的一个关键组成部分，这项技术源于光化学和纳米技术研究人员合作小组的基础工作和有希望的结果。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop printable nickel materials and the laser reduction-sintering process to produce high-resolution metal electrodes on flexible substrates. Screen printing or inkjet printing with conductive inks based on metal nanoparticles is an attractive low-cost technology for direct metallization for optoelectronic devices. Today?s conductive inks and pastes are primarily made of silver. However, silver is expensive and prone to price volatility, whereas the price pressure of end consumer products is ever increasing. Therefore, silver alternatives are being sought, but the main challenge in replacing silver by inexpensive metals, such as copper and nickel, is in avoiding their oxidation at ambient conditions. Our innovation solves this problem by combining air-stable nickel oxide nanoparticles and laser processing, where the laser light induces direct local photochemical reduction, agglomeration, and sintering. Additionally, by employing the laser direct-write patterning, non-conducting nickel oxide film can be converted into a patterned, conducting nickel electrode in one step, without relying on complex process tools. This project will commercialize this technology by demonstrating the as-printed conductivity of nickel comparable to that of silver, by rigorous understanding of the photochemistry, ink formulation and laser process optimization. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to foster and advance printed electronics, an emerging market with tremendous growth potential across various end-user industries. The commercialization of large-scale printed-electronics is contingent on the development of low-cost materials and processes for conductive electrodes in many different application areas, including smart packaging, radio-frequency identification tags, flexible displays, biosensors, photovoltaics, thin film batteries, and smart textiles. Conventional electronic systems are fabricated using photolithography, a complex, multi-step process that requires expensive facilities and generates large volumes of hazardous waste, which damage the environment. The advancement of nanotechnology can convert inexpensive and more naturally abundant metals such as nickel into a functional material that can outperform silver. The total market for silver inks and pastes exceeds $7 billion today. If successful, the products developed in this project can capture a large share of this market. Printable electronics is a disruptive technology that has a profound effect to the America?s manufacturing competitiveness. The proposed project can establish a key component of this technology that stems from the fundamental work and promising results obtained by the collaborating team of researchers in photochemistry and nanotechnology.