Conducting polymer ink
Disclosed are conductive polymer inks and methods for forming the inks. The disclosed inks include a dispersion of conductive core/shell nanoparticles. The core/shell nanoparticles include a polymeric core and a shell formed of a conducting polymer. The inks can include a dispersion of the core/shell nanoparticles in a liquid carrier, such as an alcohol. The disclosed inks can be formulated to high viscosities and can be utilized in high-speed printing processes including rotogravure and flexographic printing processes. Products encompassed by the disclosure include polymer devices such as sensors, OFETs, RFID tags, printed circuit board, electrochromic devices, non-volatile memory devices, photovoltaics, and the like.
1. An ink comprising a dispersion of particles in a carrier liquid, the particles comprising a polymeric core less than about 500 nm in average diameter, the particles further comprising a polymeric shell including a conductive polymer, the ink including as a binding agent the polymeric material of the polymeric core, the ink further including uncoated core particles.
2. The ink of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric shell is between about 10 nm and about 100 nm in thickness.
3. The ink of claim 1 , wherein the carrier liquid is aqueous.
4. The ink of claim 1 , wherein the carrier liquid comprises alcohol.
5. The ink of claim 1 , the particles further comprising an anchoring material between the polymeric core and the polymeric shell.
6. The ink of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric core comprises an insulating polymer.
7. The ink of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric core has a glass transition temperature of between about 25° C. and about 50° C.
8. The ink of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric core comprises a polymer selected from the group consisting of poly(methacrylate), poly(acrylate), poly(ethylene glycol), and an aromatic vinyl polymer.
9. The ink of claim 8 , wherein the polymeric core comprises a poly(methacrylate).
10. The ink of claim 9 , wherein the polymeric core comprises poly(butyl methacrylate).
11. The ink of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric shell comprises a polymer selected from the group consisting of poly(aniline), polypyrrole, polythiophene, poly(ethylenedioxythiophene), and poly(p-phenylene vinylene).
12. The ink of claim 11 , wherein the polymeric shell comprises poly(aniline).
13. The ink of claim 1 , wherein the ink is a flexographic ink.
14. The ink of claim 1 , wherein the ink contains the particles in an amount of up to about 50% by weight of the ink.
15. A method for forming the ink of claim 1 comprising:
forming a dispersion of polymeric core particles, the polymeric core particles having an average diameter of less than about 500 nm;
polymerizing a monomer on the polymeric core particles to form a polymeric core/shell particles, wherein the polymeric shell comprises a conductive polymer; wherein
the ink comprises a dispersion of the core/shell particles in a carrier liquid.
16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising polymerizing a monomer from solution to form the polymeric core particles.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the polymerization is an emulsion polymerization process.
18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the monomer is a methacrylate.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the monomer is butyl methacrylate.
20. The method of claim 15 , further comprising dispersing the core/shell particles in the carrier liquid.
21. The method of claim 15 , further comprising adsorbing a stabilizer onto the polymeric core particles.
22. The method of claim 15 , further comprising adding an amount of uncoated polymeric core particles to the ink.
23. The method of claim 15 , wherein the only binder included in the ink is the polymeric material forming the polymeric core particles.
24. An ink comprising a dispersion of particles in a carrier liquid, the particles comprising a polymeric core less than about 500 nm in average diameter, the particles further comprising a polymeric shell including a conductive polymer, the ink including as a binding agent the polymeric material of the polymeric core, wherein the ink is a flexographic ink and has a viscosity of less than about 100 mPaS.
25. The ink of claim 24 , wherein the polymeric shell is between about 10 nm and about 100 nm in thickness.
26. The ink of claim 24 , wherein the carrier liquid is aqueous.
27. The ink of claim 24 , wherein the carrier liquid comprises alcohol.
28. The ink of claim 24 , the particles further comprising an anchoring material between the polymeric core and the polymeric shell.
29. The ink of claim 24 , wherein the polymeric core comprises an insulating polymer.
30. The ink of claim 24 , wherein the polymeric core has a glass transition temperature of between about 25° C. and about 50° C.
31. The ink of claim 24 , wherein the polymeric core comprises a polymer selected from the group consisting of poly(methacrylate), poly(acrylate), poly(ethylene glycol), and an aromatic vinyl polymer.
32. The ink of claim 31 , wherein the polymeric core comprises a poly(methacrylate).
33. The ink of claim 32 , wherein the polymeric core comprises poly(butyl methacrylate).
34. The ink of claim 24 , wherein the polymeric shell comprises a polymer selected from the group consisting of poly(aniline), polypyrrole, polythiophene, poly(ethylenedioxythiophene), and poly(p-phenylene vinylene).
35. The ink of claim 34 , wherein the polymeric shell comprises poly(aniline).
36. The ink of claim 24 , the ink further including uncoated core particles.
37. The ink of claim 24 , wherein the ink contains the particles in an amount of up to about 50% by weight of the ink.