Facile Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Useful for Fabrication of High-Conductivity Elements for Printed Electronics

A facile synthesis of stable silver nanoparticles having a particle size of <10 nm is described. The synthesis involved reduction of silver acetate with a substituted hydrazine, such as PhNHNH2, in the presence of a 1-alkylamine, such as C16H33NH2, in toluene at 25-60 degrees C. Spin-coated thin films or printed electronic features of alkylamine-stabilized silver nanoparticles could be easily converted at 120-160 degrees C into highly conductive films or elements with conductivity of 2-4 x 104 S cm-1. Organic thin-film transistors with printed silver source/drain electrodes of this nature exhibited field-effect transistor properties which are similar to those of the devices using vacuum-deposited silver electrodes.