Introducing the Metalon® Jettable Gold “JG” line of gold inks … biocompatible and suitable for medical, fine-featured electronics, and more!
Explore our range of high-performance Metalon® gold conductive inks.
| Ink Name | Documents | Material | Particle type | Loading (wt%) | Vehicle | Volume resistivity (Ω-cm) at 200°C curing | Features | MOQ | Price of MOQ | Shop |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
JG-125 | Au | Nanoparticle | 25 | Aqueous | 2.6 E-5 |
| 3 mL | 295 USD | Shop | |
JG-024UA | Au | Nanoparticle | 40 | Aqueous | 2.6 E-5 |
| 3 mL (4.8 g) | 580 USD | Shop | |
JG-027UA-10 | Au | Nanoparticle | 10 | Aqueous | 2.6 E-5 |
| 5 mL | 100 USD | Shop | |
JG-001 | Au | Nanoparticle | 1 / 10 / 50 | Aqueous | N/A |
| 100 mL | 295 USD | Shop |
Aqueous
JG-125
JG-024UA
JG-027UA-10
JG-001
Product Selection & Physical Properties
Selection depends primarily on your deposition method and required gold loading:
- Inkjet (FujiFilm Dimatix Samba): Use JG-125. It is optimized for 4-8 cP viscosity and 25 wt% Au.
- Aerosol Jet (Optomec): Use JG-024UA. It features 40 wt% Au and is the industry standard for high-resolution aerosol traces.
- NanoJet (IDS): Use JG-027UA. This 10 wt% formulation is specifically tuned for NanoJet solvent ratios.
- While our inks are primarily formulated for Aerosol Jet and Inkjet (DMP Samba), they are viable candidates for capillary flow systems and spray based application systems due to their low viscosity and extremely small particle size.
All NovaCentrix gold inks utilize nanoparticles with a z-average diameter of 30-50 nm. To ensure reliable jetting and prevent nozzle clogs, the inks are filtered through a 3-micron glass fiber filter prior to shipment.
JG-001 is a pure dispersion of gold nanoparticles in water without any additives or fluoropolymer binders. It is intended for researchers who require a “naked” gold surface for specific chemical functionalization. Note that it has very low viscosity and lacks the adhesion-promoting polymers found in formulated inks. While this is excellent for surface chemistry research, it has a very low viscosity (near water) and may be harder to tune in for high-resolution printing compared to formulated inks like JG-024UA. In addition, JG-001-NP is a version that contains no polymer. Please contact us for more details if this is of interest.
The nanoparticles utilize a polymeric capping agent for stability. The content is 1 – 3 % w/w based on the gold weight.
No. Gold ink should be used as-received. We filter the ink through a 3 micron glass fiber filter before shipping. Note that the 0.45µm filter suggestion from Dimatix is intended for non-particle inks and will likely clog with gold nanoparticles.
For JG-125 and the Samba cartridge, start with these baseline settings:
- Jetting Frequency: 5-30 kHz (optimized daily).
- Meniscus Pressure: 3.5 to 4.0 (lower if necessary).
- Drop Spacing: 10-15 microns.
- Voltage: 23-30 V (optimized daily).
- Cartridge Height: 0.5-1.0 mm above the substrate.
Starting waveform is available upon request.
If a fresh printhead isn’t firing, it is rarely a clog. Common causes include:
- Trapped Air: A short purge cycle often helps.
- Static Charge: Static on the substrate can cause drop deviation. We recommend using a ZeroStat anti-static gun to neutralize the surface.
- Maintenance: Even with careful flushing, these printheads may only be usable for 2-3 days at most.
- Jet Management: Select the best adjacent 2-4 nozzles for printing rather than using the entire array.
If you see visible raster scans or an uneven surface:
- Drop Spacing: Ensure you are using 10 microns or less.
- Temperature: Heating the printhead slightly (up to 35°C) can improve flow. Keep the platen at room temperature.
- Multipass Printing: If the layer is still uneven, repeat the print until coverage is satisfactory.
- Aerosol Printers: Consistently achieve feature sizes below 50 microns with sub 20 micron wide lines possible.
- Inkjet (DMP/Samba): Challenging, but possible to achieve resolutions < 100 microns with optimized settings.
Resistivity improves significantly as temperature increases. Data below represents convection oven curing:
| Temperature (°C) | Time (min) | Volume Resistivity (Ω-cm) | Conductivity (vs Bulk Gold) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 140°C | 30 | 4.2×10-4 | 187x bulk |
| 175°C | 30 | 4.0×10-5 | 18x bulk |
| 200°C | 10 | 2.6×10-5 | 12x bulk |
| 225°C | 5 | 1.9×10-5 | 8.4x bulk |
If curing at 200°C or greater, a drying step at 175°C for 10 minutes is recommended first.
After drying for 30 mins at 140°C, PulseForge processing can achieve resistivity less than 25x bulk gold on PET without damage.
Printed gold nanoparticle ink creates a porous bed (~25% porosity). This provides a significantly higher Electrochemically Active Surface Area (ECSA) than dense electroplated gold, which is vital for improving signal-to-noise ratios in diagnostic biosensors.
While gold is inert, a thin printed layer over silver (like JS-A010ET) remains porous. In high-salt biosensing solutions, electrolytes can penetrate these pores and corrode the underlying silver. For high-saline environments, a full-thickness gold electrode is recommended.
- Shipping: Mondays-Wednesdays only (overnight, refrigerated) to ensure temperature stability.
- Lead Time: 3-5 business days (made-to-order).
- Storage: Must be refrigerated at ~4°C.
- Safety: Aqueous-based and non-flammable. Standard sample sizes are 3 mL.
- Handling: It is important that the Au ink does not come directly in contact with aluminum surfaces.
