Characteristics of silver powders synthesized from silver 2-ethylhexanoate and Di-n-octylamine

Uniform spherical submicron silver powders were synthesized from a long-chain alkyl carboxylate of silver 2-ethylhexanoate and an alkylamine of di-n-octylamine in this study. The decomposition of silver 2-ethylhexanoate was observed to accelerate significantly in the presence of di-n-octylamine. SEM results revealed that submicron silver powders with sizes ranging from 200 nm to 300 nm and a high tap density of 4.0 g/cm³ were successfully prepared at 150 °C for 3 h in air. TGA reveals that approximately 1.2 wt.% organic residues composed mainly of 2-ethylhexanoate with a slight amount of di-n-octylamine were attached to the silver particles, as confirmed by the FTIR and XPS results. To evaluate the feasibility for practical applications, silver paste prepared from the silver powders synthesized in this study (NAG 80 paste) was examined and characterized, and the results were compared with those of two commercially available powders (SF80 and GH67 pastes). The electrical resistivities of the NAG80 films fired at 300 and 500 °C respectively read 1.8?×?10^?5?Ω-cm and 1.1?×?10^?5?Ω-cm, both superior to those of the SF80 and GH67 films. The fine quality of the uniform submicron spherical silver powders was verified and its potential use in thick film conductors confirmed.