ForMatter/Materials/smart/Conductive Silver Ink
mat_smart_conductive_silver_ink

Conductive Silver Ink

screen-printable silver-flake conductor, polymer-binder · silver flake ink, Ag ink, printed-electronics silver
mediumlast updated 2026-04-27
metallic 0.00
hue shift +0°

A printable ink that conducts electricity — silver flakes suspended in a polymer binder, screen-printed or inkjet-deposited onto plastic film, paper, or fabric. The material printed-electronics, RFID antennas, wearable sensors, and the conductive traces on a flexible heating pad are made of. Cured at low temperature (80–150 °C), bonds well to plastic substrates that copper-clad processing can't tolerate.

Silver flakes (0.5–10 µm size, 50–80 wt%) in polyester / phenolic / acrylic binder, with solvent thinner. Sheet resistance at 20–40 µm cured thickness: 10–50 mΩ/sq (vs. 0.5 mΩ/sq for copper at the same thickness). Adheres to PET, PI, paper, fabric. Flexible variants survive 10⁴–10⁶ flex cycles depending on formulation. Cure 80–150 °C / 10–30 min; solvent-based formulations require ventilated drying.

electrical

  • sheet_resistance_milliohm_sq_at_25um25
source: DuPont / Henkel printed-electronics silver-ink datasheets

Sustainability

  • embodied carbon kg co2e per kg95
  • sourceEditorial estimate from ICE / Granta CES EduPack class databases — industry mean, with cradle-to-gate boundary unless otherwise noted. Embodied carbon for any specific product depends on supplier mix, recycled content, and energy grid; verify against a primary source before using these numbers in a sustainability claim.
  • recyclabilitylow — dispersed silver in mixed-material print is rarely recovered economically
  • biodegradableFalse
visual
matte silver-gray as printed
tactile
slightly raised line pattern detectable under fingernail; smooth otherwise

PBR starter values

Principled BSDF defaults derived from the sphere metallic finish. Reasonable seed for Blender, Substance, Keyshot, Rhino — tune per material.

# finish:      metallic
albedo        #a0a0a8
metallic      1.00
roughness     0.25
ior           1.45
transmission  0.00
clearcoat     0.00
sheen         0.00
anisotropic   0.00
copy as JSON 
{
  "albedo": "#a0a0a8",
  "metallic": 1.0,
  "roughness": 0.25,
  "ior": 1.45,
  "transmission": 0.0,
  "clearcoat": 0.0,
  "sheen": 0.0,
  "anisotropic": 0.0
}
Blender 4.x Python 
# Blender 4.x — Principled BSDF
# Conductive Silver Ink · finish: metallic
import bpy
mat = bpy.data.materials.new(name="mat_smart_conductive_silver_ink")
mat.use_nodes = True
bsdf = mat.node_tree.nodes["Principled BSDF"]
bsdf.inputs["Base Color"].default_value         = (0.3515, 0.3515, 0.3916, 1.0)
bsdf.inputs["Metallic"].default_value           = 1.000
bsdf.inputs["Roughness"].default_value          = 0.250
bsdf.inputs["IOR"].default_value                = 1.450
bsdf.inputs["Transmission Weight"].default_value = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Coat Weight"].default_value        = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Sheen Weight"].default_value       = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Anisotropic"].default_value        = 0.000
KeyShot Python (lux) 
# KeyShot 11+ — lux Python API, Generic material
# Conductive Silver Ink · finish: metallic
# Run from Window → Scripting Console
import lux
mat = lux.createMaterial(name="mat_smart_conductive_silver_ink", materialType="Generic")
mat.setProperty("diffuse",      (160, 160, 168))   # 8-bit sRGB
mat.setProperty("metallic",     1.000)
mat.setProperty("roughness",    0.250)
mat.setProperty("indexOfRefraction", 1.450)
mat.setProperty("transparency", 0.000)
mat.setProperty("coatingWeight", 0.000)
Substance pbrMetalRough 
{
  "_format": "Substance Designer / Painter \u2014 pbrMetalRough constants",
  "_about": "Conductive Silver Ink \u00b7 finish: metallic",
  "baseColor": {
    "r": 0.3515,
    "g": 0.3515,
    "b": 0.3916
  },
  "metallic": 1.0,
  "roughness": 0.25,
  "ior": 1.45,
  "opacity": 1.0,
  "anisotropyLevel": 0.0,
  "_notes": "Channels listed are the standard Substance pbrMetalRough output. Drop into a Uniform Color node per channel, or as the constant input on a layered stack."
}
glTF 2.0 Metallic-Roughness 
{
  "asset": {
    "version": "2.0",
    "generator": "ForMatter"
  },
  "materials": [
    {
      "name": "mat_smart_conductive_silver_ink",
      "pbrMetallicRoughness": {
        "baseColorFactor": [
          0.3515,
          0.3515,
          0.3916,
          1.0
        ],
        "metallicFactor": 1.0,
        "roughnessFactor": 0.25
      },
      "extensions": {
        "KHR_materials_ior": {
          "ior": 1.45
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}
USD Preview Surface 
# USD Preview Surface — UsdShade.MaterialLook prim attributes
# Conductive Silver Ink · finish: metallic
def Material "mat_smart_conductive_silver_ink" {
    token outputs:surface.connect = </mat_smart_conductive_silver_ink/PreviewSurface.outputs:surface>

    def Shader "PreviewSurface" {
        uniform token info:id = "UsdPreviewSurface"
        color3f inputs:diffuseColor = (0.3515, 0.3515, 0.3916)
        float   inputs:metallic     = 1.000
        float   inputs:roughness    = 0.250
        float   inputs:ior          = 1.450
        float   inputs:opacity      = 1.000
        float   inputs:clearcoat    = 0.000
        token   outputs:surface
    }
}
↓ download glTF material

Citations