When designing sustainable printed devices, the selection of materials and technologies is a crucial and time-consuming step due to a lack of comparative studies of commercially available resources. Our new publication aims to facilitate the task of material selection for researchers by presenting an experimental revision of different printing techniques, inks, and paper substrates.

A total of three printing technologies were tested: manual screen printing, inkjet printing, and Direct Ink Writing. Test structures were printed using silver and carbon inks with the three studied technologies and their electrical properties were determined. The characteristics of the substrate used have an influence on the performance of printed patterns. This is why a total of seven different paper substrates (4 of them being commercially available and the others, custom-made papers based on cellulose nanofibers) were investigated. Moreover, a cellulose nanofiber coating was applied to two of the commercial paper substrates to modify their surface properties. The printing conditions of the chosen inks were optimized for each substrate and electrical characterization, was performed on the printed patterns. Additionally, the morphology, wettability, and thermal stability of the substrates were also studied.

All in all, in this new publication we offer a thorough study of printing technologies, inks, and paper substrates that could be a useful consulting tool for researchers designing sustainable printed circuits.