Conductive inks from recycled metals

Purpose and goal:

The purpose of of the project was to verify the function and performance of oxidative resistant Ag nanowires and sub-10 nm Ag nanoparticels, from recycled Ag source, for conductive inks and verify the customer benefits.

The project was succesfull in verifying the function and performance of oxidative resistant Ag nanowires and sub-10 nm Ag nanoparticles for conductive inks as well as in verifying the customer benefits.

However, the recycled silver, was not pure enough to provide a highly concentrated and stable initial solution and a high yield of nanowires. Expected results and effects:

The problems that arose due to contaminants in the recycled metal are expected to be solved by identifying new suppliers and products with a higher degree of purity.

The project succeeded in verifying a scalable, continuous production process that increased the production capacity by a factor of 30. The integration of a module to create a thin layer of oxidation-resistant AuAg shell was also successful.

The aggregation and dispersion of AgAu nanowires were found to have a major impact on the final ink preparation, and we plan to investigate solutions for this in phase 2. Approach and implementation:

The implementation of the project has followed the planned structure according to the application, with four work packages over five months: Upscale synthesis of Ag particles from recycled sources; Continuous coating of oxidative-resistant AuAg sheath on Ag NWs; Ink formulations and stability on oxidative environments; interaction with the potential customers. All work packages have given successful results with the exception of the use of recycled silver, which had too much contamination to be useful.