The integration of advanced materials, additive manufacturing processes, and simulation-driven design is becoming increasingly important in the development of high-frequency electronic and machinery components. In this work, a simulation-driven design methodology is presented for gold nanoparticles-based (AuNPs) conductive structures intended for implementation on low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) substrates. The approach incorporates both electromagnetic performance requirements and manufacturing constraints associated with already developed printed conductive materials. As a representative application, a microstrip coupled-line band-pass filter operating in the Ku-band frequency range is designed using full-wave electromagnetic simulations. The geometry is optimized while considering realistic limitations related to conductor thickness, minimum feature size, and effective electrical conductivity of AuNPs based conductive layers. The AuNPs are produced via ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP), liophilizied, dispered in a solvent, plasma printed on a Al2O3 substrate and sintered. The resulting properties thus deviate from bulk gold. The optimized structure of the AuNPs LTCC filter exhibits a center frequency of approximately 15 GHz with a bandwidth of about 1 GHz. Simulated S-parameter results demonstrate efficient signal transmission within the passband and strong attenuation outside the operating frequency range.

The development of high-frequency printed electronics requires simulation methodologies that represent the electrical behaviour of nanoparticle-based conductive materials accurately. Conventional electromagnetic simulations typically assume ideal bulk material properties, neglecting the influence of nanoparticle synthesis, printing and thermal processing. This work presents a simulation-driven design methodology for microwave components based on experimentally characterised plasma-printed gold nanoparticle (AuNPs) conductors. The experimentally determined material properties, including electrical conductivity and conductor thickness, obtained from previously developed plasma-printed AuNP structures, were incorporated directly into the electromagnetic model to provide realistic simulation conditions. The proposed workflow integrates equivalent-circuit synthesis, distributed transmission-line implementation and full-wave electromagnetic simulation using the AXIEM Method of Moments solver, numerical optimisation and a sensitivity analysis. The methodology was demonstrated through the design of a third-order edge-coupled microstrip band-pass filter operating at 15 GHz on a 96% alumina substrate (Al2O3). The optimised design satisfied the target electrical specifications, while accounting for the realistic material properties and manufacturing constraints associated with plasma printing. The sensitivity analysis identified the transmission-line length as the most influential geometrical parameter, while the transmission-line width, coupling gaps and substrate dielectric constant exhibited comparatively lower sensitivity. The proposed methodology provides a practical framework for the design of additively manufactured microwave and millimetre-wave components.