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Evaporation induced hollow cracks and the adhesion of silver nanoparticle film

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Abstract

Solution-based technology has potential in electrode patterning for low-cost, large-scale and flexible electronics. However, the formation of cracks often leads to unpredictable experimental results. This report explores the critical impact of solvent evaporation on the hollow crack formation and the adhesive property of silver nanoparticle film deposited using an ink-jet printable precursor ink. Uneven evaporation causes directional flows inside and along the surface of wet film, which contributes to nanoparticle film assembly initially at the periphery surface region. The area further away from the contact line tends to form thinner surface film, which can be easily deformed to form ripples under compressive stress. The suppressed evaporation of the liquid under the surface film makes the initially outward compensation flow reversed to inward, leaving a hollow inside morphology of the ripples, which can be transferred to cracks after complete solidification and will seriously degrade the adhesive property. This work has referential significance for the optimization of ink chemistry and film processing for high-quality film fabrication using solution-based method.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2016YFB0401504), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 51771074, 51521002 and U1601651), the National Key Basic Research and Development Program of China (973 program, Grant No. 2015CB655004) Founded by MOST, the National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of China (Grant 51725505), the Guangdong Natural Science Foundation (Nos. 2016A030313459 and 2017A030310028), the Guangdong Science and Technology Project (Nos. 2016B090907001, 2016A040403037, 2016B090906002, 2017B090907016 and 2017A050503002), and the Guangzhou Science and Technology Project (201804020033).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Ruiqiang Tao, Honglong Ning, Jianqiu Chen, Caigui Yang, Yicong Zhou, Rihui Yao & Junbiao Peng

  2. Key Laboratory of Advanced Display and System Applications of Ministry of Education, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200072, China

    Jianhua Zhang

  3. State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Zhiqiang Fang

  4. Guangdong Feng Hua Advanced Technology Holding CO., LTD, Zhaoqing, 526020, China

    Yongsheng Song

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  1. Ruiqiang Tao
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Correspondence to Honglong Ning or Rihui Yao.

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Tao, R., Zhang, J., Fang, Z. et al. Evaporation induced hollow cracks and the adhesion of silver nanoparticle film. J Mater Sci 54, 7987–7996 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-019-03456-1

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