Silver Solution Ink Makes Faster Flexible Circuits 36
judgecorp writes "Silver-based compounds dissolved in ammonia could make finer and more flexible circuits, according to researchers at the University of Illinois. Existing inkjet based circuit printing systems use particles which are less predictable. The silver-based ink remains dissolved until the ammonia evaporates, and can be delivered through 100nm nozzles. In all senses, it's a better solution."
Re:Corrosion? (Score:4, Insightful)
Assuming this is metalic silver being deposited (this process seems eerily similar to traditional silver mirroring processes with ammonia, dextrose, and silver nitrate) then it can be rapidly plated with gold using a solution bath. (Gold dissolved in nitric and hydrochloric acid mixture)
An interesting idea would be to print the two solutions (dextrose + ammonia) + (silver nitrate) with a dual head printer, then print dissolved gold after it has had time to deposit.
This would chemically replace/plate (depending on thickness) the silver traces with gold ones. A simple distilled water wash afterwards would clean up the piece.
Makes me wonder if I could repurpose a color print cartridge for this process. I strongly suspect that the nitrate and aqua regia solutions would be very very bad for the printheads though. (Dextrose + ammonia solution would probably just clog and nothing more.)