Copper Nanoplates for Printing Flexible High-Temperature Conductors
Aaron Sheng, Saurabh Khuje, Jian Yu, Thomas Parker, Jeng-Yuan Tsai, Lu An, Yulong Huang, Zheng Li, Chenggang Zhuang, Lanrik Kester, Qimin Yan, Shenqiang Ren
Abstract
Copper has attracted immense interest in advanced electronics attributed to its abundance and high electrical and thermal characteristics. However, the ease of oxidation when subjected to heat and humidity drastically limits its material reliability under extreme environments. Here, we utilize copper nanoplates as a building block to achieve a thermally stable (upwards of 1300 °C), antioxidation, and anticorrosion-printed conductor, with the capability of additively manufacturing on Corning flexible Alumina Ribbon Ceramic. We elucidate the printed copper nanoplates with a low sheet resistance of 4 mΩ/sq/mil by means of a surface-coordinated formate that inculcates high oxidation and corrosion resistance on a molecular level. In addition, an in situ copper–graphene conversion leads to a hybridized conductor displaying stability at elevated temperatures up to 1300 °C with high ampacity. Further mechanistic studies reveal high-temperature stability from in situ graphene conversion for copper and graphene interfaces, and preferential stacking of copper nanoplates, distinctly suited for emerging high-temperature flexible electronics.