Water-based graphene/AgNPs hybrid conductive inks for flexible electronic applications

Currently, inkjet printing of the hybrid conductive inks plays a critical role in the technological advancement to fabricate flexible electronics. In this study, flexible electronics based on water-based graphene, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), and graphene/AgNPs hybrid printed on polyethylene terephthalate substrate (PET) substrate were developed. The properties of the conductive inks were evaluated based on different concentrations of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) surfactants (0.1, 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7 wt%). Among the conductive ink formulations, G/AgNPs hybrid inks fabricated with 0.5 wt% PVP surfactant exhibited better stability, wettability, and electrical conductivity. Moreover, the electrical conductivity of G/AgNPs hybrid conductive traces performed more than 100 times higher than G and AgNPs conductive traces. In addition, it was observed that under 50% tensile and 100 bending times, the printed hybrid conductive traces exhibited only 4% and 3% drop in conductivity, respectively. Therefore, conductive inks prepared from water-based G/AgNPs hybrid ink are thought to be appropriate for usage in printed flexible electronic applications.