Design of highly stabilized nanocomposite inks based on biodegradable polymer-matrix and gold nanoparticles for Inkjet Printing

Nowadays there is a worldwide growing interest in the Inkjet Printing technology owing to its potentially high levels of geometrical complexity, personalization and resolution. There is also social concern about usage, disposal and accumulation of plastic materials. In this work, it is shown that sugar-based biodegradable polyurethane polymers exhibit outstanding properties as polymer-matrix for gold nanoparticles composites. These materials could reach exceptional stabilization levels, and demonstrated potential as novel robust inks for Inkjet based Printing. Furthermore, a physical comparison among different polymers is discussed based on stability and printability experiments to search for the best ink candidate. The University of Seville logo was printed by employing those inks, and the presence of gold was confirmed by ToF-SIMS. This approach has the potential to open new routes and applications for fabrication of enhanced biomedical nanometallic-sensors using stabilized AuNP.