Effects of Organic Vehicle on the Rheological and Screen-Printing Characteristics of Silver Paste for LTCC Thick Film Electrodes

Silver paste is widely used for low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) electrodes. In this work, a kind of LTCC silver paste for fine-line screen-printing was developed by considering the effect of the organic vehicle on rheological behavior and screen-printing properties. A step-by-step volatilization mode was applied to screen the mixed organic solvent of alpha-terpineol, 2-(2-butoxyethoxy) ethyl acetate (BCA) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP). The alpha-terpineol:BCA:DBP ratio of 5:2:3 is selected by considering the volatility, viscosity, and pseudoplasticity of the organic vehicle. Both viscosity and pseudoplasticity of shear-thinning increase with the increase of ethyl cellulose (EC) organic binder content. Three interval thixotropy test (3ITT) was conducted to discuss the thixotropy of silver paste. The minimum printing line width of 13.27 mu m is obtained using silver paste with 10 wt% EC, confirming that the homemade paste has good printability.

Automated summary

In this work, a low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) silver paste for fine-line screen-printing was developed by considering the effect of the organic vehicle on its rheological behavior and screen-printing properties. The selection and adjustment of organic solvents and organic binder content were carried out to optimize the viscosity and pseudoplasticity of the silver paste. The experimental results showed that the homemade silver paste exhibited good printability.