Effect of Mechanochemical Modification of Ag₂O Particles on the Electrical Properties of Ag Layers Formed from Ag₂O Pastes

This paper investigates the use of wet planetary ball milling to modify silver oxide particles. When Ag<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>O particles are processed mechanochemically, the particles’ size decreases (from 1 to $10 \mu \mathrm{~m}$), and their particle reactivity increases. The electrical properties of reduced Ag layers (produced by processing of Ag<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>O polymer paste), were examined in relation to original and different duration milled particles. The original and milled particles were analyzed in terms of shape, particle size distribution and particle purity. Finally, the Ag<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>O particles have been integrated into the polymer matrix, making up $50 \%$ of the total weight. The $\mathbf{A g}_{\mathbf{2}} \mathbf{O}$ based self-reducing paste was stencil printed onto polyethylene terephthalate (PET) Mylar A substrate with a thickness of 50 $\mu \mathrm{m}$. The paste was cured for 20 minutes at temperatures between 120° and $180^{\circ} \mathrm{C}$. In this context, the impact of processing temperature on the final electrical properties was investigated. To achieve these goals, the 4 -point probe method with the configuration of the probes in line was used. The results indicate that the most effective time to mill particles is five hours. It offers a monomodal particle distribution ranging from 0.252 to $6.325 \mu \mathrm{~m}$ and only $3 \% \mathrm{Ag}$ phase formed while milling. Whereas the resistivity of the layers using these particles is $\mathbf{3 1 . 3 8}$ $\mathrm{m} \Omega / \mathrm{sq}$ at curing $140^{\circ} \mathrm{C}$ for 20 minutes.