Binding Conductive Ink Initiatively and Strongly: Transparent and Thermally Stable Cellulose Nanopaper as a Promising Substrate for Flexible Electronics

For flexible electronics, the substrates play key roles in ensuring their performance. However, most substrates suffer from weak bonding with the conductive ink and need additional aids. Here, inspired by the Ag–S bond theory, a novel cellulose nanopaper substrate is presented to improve the bond strength with the Ag nanoparticle ink through a facile printing method. The substrate is fabricated using thiol-modified nanofibrillated cellulose and exhibits excellent optical properties (∼85%@550 nm), ultra-small surface roughness (3.47 nm), and high thermal dimensional stability (up to at least 90 °C). Most importantly, it can attract Ag nanoparticles initiatively and bind them firmly, which enable the conductive ink to be printed without using the ink binder and form a strong substrate–ink bonding and maintain a stable conductivity of 2 × 10–4 Ω cm even after extensive peeling and bending. This work may lead to exploring new opportunities to fabricate high-performance flexible electronics using the newly developed nanopaper substrate.