Behaviour of functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as conductive nano-ink in isopropyl alcohol solvent

• Main Authors: Abdul Aziz, Nur Haziqah, Jaafar, Haslina, Mohd Sidek, Roslina, Shafie, Suhaidi, Hamidon, Mohd Nizar, Wagiran, Rahman
• Format: Article
• Published: American Scientific 2021
• Online Access: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/96187/; https://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/asp/jno/2021/00000016/00000004/art00009

This paper presents the preparation of dispersion solutions for conductive nano-ink for inkjet printers which included filler, vehicle (solvent) and additive. For fillers, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) encounter major problem such as poor dispersion resulting in agglomeration, sedimentation and unstable solution, causing nozzle clogging. MWCNTs consist of two main functional groups, namely carboxyl (−COOH) and hydroxyl (−OH) groups dispersed in isopropyl alcohol (IPA) solvent. Each functional group showed good performance as a filler after dispersing in IPA. However, MWCNT-OH has better conductivity with lower resistance of 11.3 kΩ compared to MWCNT-COOH of 15.1 kΩ. It is important for MWCNTs to have good behaviour as a filler to produce stable and high conductivity nano-ink with resistance range in kilo-ohms (kΩ). In addition, dispersing solvent is also important to ensure dispersion stability as well as maintain the performance of the filler.