MANUFACTURE AND SURVEY PROPERTIES OF CONDUCTIVE PRINTING INK BASED ON GRAPHENE NANOMATERIAL

Abstract

Conductive printing ink based on graphene nanomaterial possesses many outstanding features such
as high conductivity, light weight, and durability in the environment, therefore it has the potential to
replace precious metal-based inks such as gold and silver in electronic devices and sensors. In this report,
we fabricate graphene nanosheets from graphite paper by electrochemical exfoliation technique. The
results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) show that the
graphene sheets in the ink have the area of 1 - 2µm and a thickness of 5 - 7nm. The solution consists of
water and 1% by weight of the surfactant Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) used as a solvent for the graphene-
based ink, PVP acts as a binder as well. A homogenous viscous mixture is formed after 1 hour of
ultrasonication combined with stirring. With a concentration of ~60mg/ml, the fabricated graphene ink
can be dispersed stably for 2 months. The ink has a conductivity of 2.103
S/cm, strong adhesion to the
mica and glass. In addition, the dependent of the conductivity on the temperature treatment (from 100
to 400o
C) was also investigated.