A green method for synthesizing novel nanoparticles and their application in flexible conductive patterns

A general and unified approach to synthesize Ag, Cu and Au nanoparticles (NPs) is developed at room temperature in air atmosphere under ultrasonication in poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) solutions with ascorbic acid and glucose as the reducing and nucleation agents, respectively. XRD, TEM, and HR-TEM analysis of the Ag, Cu, and Au NPs confirm purity and average diameters of 15.5 ± 2.0 nm, 50 ± 3.0 nm, and 10 ± 1.0 nm, respectively. An ultrasonic-assisted mechanism, wherein reduction occurs readily and produces anti-oxidation particles, is proposed and discussed. Fast infrared sintering was used to avoid damaging the substrate of conductive patterns whose resistivity at 10 W (∼50 °C) sintering power for less than 6 min reached up to 10 ± 0.5 μΩ cm, 40 ± 3.0 μΩ cm, and 280 ± 5 μΩ cm for Ag, Cu, and Au patterns, respectively. Paper-based electrodes were produced successfully and exhibited excellent flexibility and good conductivity. The potential of this method for large scale production is discussed.