Atmospheric pressure nonthermal plasmas hold great promise for applications in environmental control, energy conversion, and material processing. Even at room temperature, nonthermal plasmas produce energetic and reactive species that can initiate surface modifications at a plasma-surface interface, including thin-film nanoparticle assemblies, in a nondestructive and effective way. Here, we present the plasma-activated sintering of aerosol jet printed silver thin films on substrates ranging from glass to delicate materials including blotting paper, fruits, and flexible plastic. We characterize the microstructural evolutions and electrical properties of printed films along with the electrical, thermal, and optical properties of an argon plasma jet. We demonstrate an electrical conductivity as high as 1.4 × 106 S/m for printed films sintered under atmospheric conditions in which the surface temperature stays below 50 °C. These results highlight a future direction where additive manufacturing of electronic devices can be achieved on flexible and low-melting-point materials under ambient conditions without requiring additional thermal processing by utilizing nonthermal plasmas.
Keywords: aerosol jet printing; atmospheric pressure; flexible electronics; low temperature; plasma jet sintering.