EGaIn-Assisted Room-Temperature Sintering of Silver Nanoparticles for Stretchable, Inkjet-Printed, Thin-Film Electronics

Coating inkjet-printed traces of silver nanoparticle (AgNP) ink with a thin layer of eutectic gallium indium (EGaIn) increases the electrical conductivity by six-orders of magnitude and significantly improves tolerance to tensile strain. This enhancement is achieved through a room-temperature sintering process in which the liquid-phase EGaIn alloy binds the AgNP particles (approximate to 100 nm diameter) to form a continuous conductive trace. Ultrathin and hydrographically transferrable electronics are produced by printing traces with a composition of AgNP-Ga-In on a 5 mu m-thick temporary tattoo paper. The printed circuit is flexible enough to remain functional when deformed and can support strains above 80% with modest electromechanical coupling (gauge factor approximate to 1). These mechanically robust thin-film circuits are well suited for transfer to highly curved and nondevelopable 3D surfaces as well as skin and other soft deformable substrates. In contrast to other stretchable tattoo-like electronics, the low-cost processing steps introduced here eliminate the need for cleanroom fabrication and instead requires only a commercial desktop printer. Most significantly, it enables functionalities like electronic tattoos and 3D hydrographic transfer that have not been previously reported with EGaIn or EGaIn-based biphasic electronics.