Sub-second carbon-nanotube-mediated microwave sintering for high-conductivity silver patterns on plastic substrates.

A method of microwave sintering that is mediated by carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has been developed to obtain high-conductivity Ag patterns on the top of heat-sensitive plastic substrates within a short time. The Ag patterns are printed on CNTs formed on plastic substrates and rapidly heated to a great extent by the heat transferred from the microwave-heated CNTs. The conductivity of the microwave-sintered Ag patterns reaches ∼39% that of bulk Ag within 1 s without substrate deformation.