Carbon nanotube ink for writing on cellulose paper

•Water based conductive carbon nanotube ink is synthesized.•Direct writing on paper is demonstrated with off-the-shelf nib of fountain pen.•Dual sided and multilayered paper circuit boards are demonstrated with the pen.•Excellent robustness against bending, folding, crumpling are confirmed.

A water-based conductive carbon nanotube (CNT) ink was synthesized with single-walled CNT and sodium dodecylbenezenesulfonate as surfactant. Direct writing on paper using this ink was demonstrated with off-the-shelf nib and cartridges in a fountain pen handwriting tool. It is lightweight and portable which allows writing on curved substrates. The through paper via was easily achieved by wetting method. Dual-side and multi-layer paper circuit boards were demonstrated by direct writing. The drawn pattern displays uniformity and reproducibility. The exceptional adhesion of CNT on cellulose paper shows good robustness against bending, folding, crumpling and other mechanical stress. A chemical sensor fabricated by direct writing showed good response down to 10 ppm of ammonia vapor in air.

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