A new molecular silver precursor for the preparation of thin conductive silver films

•The crystal structure of a new silver based molecular precursor was solved.•The photoreduction of the precursor to elemental silver was studied.•Resulting elemental thin silver films show excellent electrical properties.•The silver precursor can be used as an ink in soft lithographic processes for the preparation of structured silver films.

The synthesis and characterization of a new molecular silver precursor is reported. The presented complex [Ag(DioxoNic)2]NO3 (DioxoNic=(2,2-Dimethyl-1,3-dioxolan-4-yl)methyl nicotinate) can be obtained by the reaction of silver(I) nitrate and (2,2-Dimethyl-1,3-dioxolan-4-yl)methyl nicotinate in ethanol. The product crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c (No. 14). Concentrated ethanolic solutions allow the fabrication of thin films via dip coating. Using UV-irradiation and subsequent moderate temperature treatment compact films of elemental silver can be obtained. The resulting silver films show excellent electrical properties with sheet resistances down to 0.7 Ω/sq at a film thickness of 25 nm corresponding to a specific electrical resistance of 1.75×10−8 Ωm very close to the value of bulk silver. For the potential application in optoelectronic devices, the complex was tested as an ink in a soft printing process for the preparation of patterned silver films.