Characterization of electrical properties of direct ink written silver-ink

Direct-Ink Writing (DIW), in conjunction with Multi-Material (MM) Fused-Filament-Fabrication (FFF) was used to characterize the electrical- and piezo resistive properties of silver-ink based traces on top of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) substrates. Resistivity of 3D printed conducting traces is reduced by a factor of a 5 · 10 5. However, at strains above 10% the silver ink traces showed non-linear piezoresistive behaviour. Even though silver ink was not deemed suitable for piezoelectrical sensing, the exhibited low resistivity can be used for conductive contact traces when combined with FFF printed black carbon doped polymers, as to realize 3D printed strain gauges.