Design evaluation and performance analysis of silver nanoparticle ink-based printed heaters

Abstract Printed electronics provides a low-cost, sustainable and simple fabrication route device fabrication. Silver nanoparticle (Ag NP) ink is commonly used to print conductive lines, and optimizing the printed pattern design is critical for performance improvement. This study compares three printed heater designs: serpentine, spiral, and a combination spiral-serpentine pattern. The heaters are printed using direct ink writing technique with commercial Ag NP ink on a quartz substrate, optimizing key parameters such as the number of printed layers and ink volume per layer to achieve good electrical conductivity. The conductivity values range from 3.42 × 10 7 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msup> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">Ω</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> <mml:msup> <mml:mtext> m</mml:mtext> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> to 3.47 × 10 7 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msup> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">Ω</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> <mml:msup> <mml:mtext> m</mml:mtext> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> for different printing passes, compared to the bulk silver conductivity of 6.3 × 10 7 <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msup> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">Ω</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> <mml:msup> <mml:mtext> m</mml:mtext> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> . Polydimethylsiloxane is used to encapsulate the heater patterns, and their performance is tested at temperatures up to 200 ∘ C. This study also identifies potential applications for these heater designs, such as wearable electronics and flexible heating elements for metal oxide-based gas sensors. Future research will concentrate on optimizing material performance for dynamic and flexible environments, improving long-term durability, and overcoming technical barriers to large-scale production.