Alternative sintering methods compared to conventional thermal sintering for inkjet printed silver nanoparticle ink

In this contribution several alternative sintering methods are compared to traditional thermal sintering as high temperature and long process time of thermal sintering are increasing the costs of inkjet-printing and preventing the use of this technology in large scale manufacturing. Alternative sintering techniques are evaluated based on the electrical and mechanical performance they enable on inkjet-printed structures as well as their potential feasibility for large scale manufacturing. Photonic sintering was identified as the most promising alternative to thermal sintering. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.