Nanosized glass frit as an adhesion promoter for ink-jet printed conductive patterns on glass substrates annealed at high temperatures

Ink-jet printed metal nanoparticle films have been shown to anneal at high temperatures (above 500°C) to highly conductive metal films on glass or ceramic substrates, but they suffer from cracking and inadequate substrate adhesion. Here, we report printable conductive materials, with added nanosized glass frit that can be annealed at 500°C to form a crack-free dense microstructure that adheres well to glass substrates. This overcomes the previous challenges while still retaining the desired high film conductivity. Controlling the particle characteristics and dispersion behavior plays an important role in successfully incorporating the glass frit into the conductive inks.