Metalon® Inks

Water-based conductive inks for additive manufacturing of printed electronics. These inks contain silver or copper as the conductive element and are intended for application to lightweight, flexible, low-temperature substrates such as paper, PET and other plastics. Being water-based, they are of low VOC formulation and offer ease of handling, clean-up and reclamation. The silver ink (HPS-021LV) contains 60-75% silver, has low sheet resistivity, low curing temperatures and can also be printed on glass. The copper inks (ICI-003 and ICI-021) contain 15%-20% and 55-60% of copper oxide respectively, have extremely low sheet resistivity (ICI-021 at or below 15 million ohm/sq) and therefore high electrical conductivity and are suitable for use on inexpensive paper substrates. The copper inks are 10x more cost effective than silver. The metal particles are synthesized, milled and compounded with water compatible solvents and polymers in an ink. The inks can be applied by screen- or inkjet- printing; and the material is then dried, cured and converted to a metal thin-film by PulseForge tools, a standard oven or IR equipment. The ink is sold 100 g, 500 g, 1 kg, 10 kg and 55 kg containers. Typical print thickness is 1 – 30 micron (silver), or 0.2 – 40 micron (copper). The ink color is reflective of the metals they contain. Custom formulations are available for specific applications and print methods by varying the viscosity and mass loading. Other properties can also be varied for adhesion to various surfaces.The ink is available in rheologies suitable for Epson desktop printers as well as XAAR and Dimatix production printers. The material meets the standards for film hardness according to ASTM D3363; adhesion according to ASTM D3359; and environmental testing for damp heat (IEC60068-2-78). Applications include printed electronics such as photovoltaic devices, RFID, touch panel displays, medical test strips, smart cards and labels, circuit boards, and advanced or tamper-resistant packaging.