Facile and Scalable Synthesis of Ag Nano-Flowers that Can be Sintered Below 120 °C

Silver particles are key materials for the production of conductive inks, which are typically thermally sintered to obtain high conductivity. However, it remains a big challenge to achieve high conductivity at temperatures lower than 150 °C, for the protection of heat-sensitive components in printed electronic devices. In this study, a novel frigid synthesis strategy at subzero temperature (Celsius) to produce Ag NPs with rich, rose-like nanostructures (Ag nano-flowers) is developed. The growth mechanism of Ag nano-flowers under frigid conditions is analyzed and discussed. Due to the fine nanoscale structure of Ag nano-flowers, they exhibit low sintering temperature below 120 °C. The electrical conductivity of printed Ag nano-flower foil reaches 8.64 × 10 4 S cm −1 at 120 °C, and 1.20 × 10 5 S cm −1 at 150 °C. This study provides an attractive approach to the facile fabrication of Ag nano-flowers with high electronic conductivity sintered at low temperatures and grants new insights into nanocrystallization under low-temperature conditions.