TEMPERATURE-DEPENDED WETTABILITY OF CONDUCTIVE FILMS BASED ON ELECTROPHORETIC SILVER NANOPARTICLE CONCENTRATES

The Doctor Blade method was employed to obtain homogeneous, rough films comprising concentrated organosols of silver nanoparticles stabilised with bis-(2-ethylhexyl)sodium sulphosuccinate. The films exhibited a precious metal content of up to 73 at. %. The study provides a comprehensive account of the alterations in the film wetting capacity in response to the thermal treatment conditions, spanning a range of temperatures from 50 to 500°C. The evolution of the film wettability is not a linear process due to the nanoparticle sintering and thermal decomposition of stabiliser molecules. Experimental evidence indicated that the transition from non-conductive to conductive coatings (from 500 to 105 mOhm/^) was accompanied by a notable increase in the contact angle (from 25 to 78°).