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Journal ArticleDOI

Large area solution processed transparent conducting electrode based on highly interconnected Cu wire network

20 Feb 2014-Journal of Materials Chemistry C (The Royal Society of Chemistry)-Vol. 2, Iss: 11, pp 2089-2094
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used a four-step process involving deposition of commercially available colloidal dispersions onto polyethylene terephthalate (PET), drying to induce crackle network formation, nucleating Au or Pd seed nanoparticles inside the crackle regions, washing away the sacrificial layer and finally, depositing Cu electrolessly or by electroplating.
Abstract: Virtually unlimited and highly interconnected Cu wire networks have been fabricated on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates with sheet resistance of <5 Ω □−1 and transmittance of ∼75%, as alternatives to the commonly used tin doped indium oxide (ITO) based electrodes. This is a four step process involving deposition of commercially available colloidal dispersions onto PET, drying to induce crackle network formation, nucleating Au or Pd seed nanoparticles inside the crackle regions, washing away the sacrificial layer and finally, depositing Cu electrolessly or by electroplating. The formed Cu wire network is continuous and seamless, and devoid of crossbar junctions, a property which brings high stability to the electrode towards oxidation in air even at 130 °C. The flexible property of the PET substrate is easily carried over to the TCE. The sheet resistance remained unaltered even after a thousand bending cycles. The as-prepared Cu wire network TCE is hydrophobic (contact angle, 80°) which, upon UV–ozone treatment, turned to hydrophilic (∼40°).
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review article provides a detailed overview on how to chemically fabricate SMEs, including the material preparation, fabrication technologies, methods to characterize their key properties, and representative studies on different wearable applications.
Abstract: Flexible and wearable electronics is one major technology after smartphones. It shows remarkable application potential in displays and informatics, robotics, sports, energy harvesting and storage, and medicine. As an indispensable part and the cornerstone of these devices, soft metal electrodes (SMEs) are of great significance. Compared with conventional physical processes such as vacuum thermal deposition and sputtering, chemical approaches for preparing SMEs show significant advantages in terms of scalability, low-cost, and compatibility with the soft materials and substrates used for the devices. This review article provides a detailed overview on how to chemically fabricate SMEs, including the material preparation, fabrication technologies, methods to characterize their key properties, and representative studies on different wearable applications.

222 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A capillary printing technique is introduced to precisely control the NW alignment and the percolation behavior of AgNW networks, which leads to the substantial improvement of optical transmittance and power conversion efficiency.
Abstract: Percolation networks of silver nanowires (AgNWs) are commonly used as transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs) for a variety of optoelectronic applications, but there have been no attempts to precisely control the percolation networks of AgNWs that critically affect the performances of TCEs. Here, we introduce a capillary printing technique to precisely control the NW alignment and the percolation behavior of AgNW networks. Notably, partially aligned AgNW networks exhibit a greatly lower percolation threshold, which leads to the substantial improvement of optical transmittance (96.7%) at a similar sheet resistance (19.5 Ω sq–1) as compared to random AgNW networks (92.9%, 20 Ω sq–1). Polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) using aligned AgNW electrodes show a 30% enhanced maximum luminance (33068 cd m–2) compared to that with random AgNWs and a high luminance efficiency (14.25 cd A–1), which is the highest value reported so far using indium-free transparent electrodes for fluorescent PLEDs. In addition, poly...

200 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jun 2016-Small
TL;DR: A new structure of flexible transparent electrodes is reported, featuring a metal mesh fully embedded and mechanically anchored in a flexible substrate, and a cost-effective solution-based fabrication strategy for this new transparent electrode that enables fabrication of a high-aspect-ratio metal mesh, substantially improving conductivity without considerably sacrificing transparency.
Abstract: A new structure of flexible transparent electrodes is reported, featuring a metal mesh fully embedded and mechanically anchored in a flexible substrate, and a cost-effective solution-based fabrication strategy for this new transparent electrode. The embedded nature of the metal-mesh electrodes provides a series of advantages, including surface smoothness that is crucial for device fabrication, mechanical stability under high bending stress, strong adhesion to the substrate with excellent flexibility, and favorable resistance against moisture, oxygen, and chemicals. The novel fabrication process replaces vacuum-based metal deposition with an electrodeposition process and is potentially suitable for high-throughput, large-volume, and low-cost production. In particular, this strategy enables fabrication of a high-aspect-ratio (thickness to linewidth) metal mesh, substantially improving conductivity without considerably sacrificing transparency. Various prototype flexible transparent electrodes are demonstrated with transmittance higher than 90% and sheet resistance below 1 ohm sq(-1) , as well as extremely high figures of merit up to 1.5 × 10(4) , which are among the highest reported values in recent studies. Finally using our embedded metal-mesh electrode, a flexible transparent thin-film heater is demonstrated with a low power density requirement, rapid response time, and a low operating voltage.

167 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An overview of emergent ink-based electrodes, such as transparent conducting oxides, metal nanowires, graphene, and carbon nanotubes, and their application in solution-based flexible and stretchable devices is provided.
Abstract: Transparent electrodes (TEs) are crucial in a wide range of modern electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, traditional TEs cannot meet the requirements of smart devices under development in unique fields, such as electronic skins, wearable electronics, robotic skins, flexible and stretchable displays, and solar cells. Emerging TEs printed with nanocrystal (NC) inks are inexpensive and compatible with solution processes, and have huge potential in flexible, stretchable, and wearable devices. Every development in ink-based electrodes makes them more competitive for practical applications in various smart devices. Herein, we provide an overview of emergent ink-based electrodes, such as transparent conducting oxides, metal nanowires, graphene, and carbon nanotubes, and their application in solution-based flexible and stretchable devices.

133 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Spray coating in the context of crack template is a powerful method for producing transparent heaters, which is shown for the first time in this work.
Abstract: Transparent conducting electrodes (TCEs) have been made on flat, flexible, and curved surfaces, following a crack template method in which a desired surface was uniformly spray-coated with a crackle precursor (CP) and metal (Ag) was deposited by vacuum evaporation. An acrylic resin (CP1) and a SiO2 nanoparticle-based dispersion (CP2) derived from commercial products served as CPs to produce U-shaped cracks in highly interconnected networks. The crack width and the density could be controlled by varying the spray conditions, resulting in varying template thicknesses. By depositing Ag in the crack regions of the templates, we have successfully produced Ag wire network TCEs on flat-flexible PET sheets, cylindrical glass tube, flask and lens surface with transmittance up to 86%, sheet resistance below 11 Ω/□ for electrothermal application. When used as a transparent heater by joule heating of the Ag network, AgCP1 and AgCP2 on PET showed high thermal resistance values of 515 and 409 °C cm2/W, respectively, wi...

125 citations

References
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Book
01 Jan 1973
TL;DR: CRC handbook of chemistry and physics, CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, CRC handbook as discussed by the authors, CRC Handbook for Chemistry and Physiology, CRC Handbook for Physics,
Abstract: CRC handbook of chemistry and physics , CRC handbook of chemistry and physics , کتابخانه مرکزی دانشگاه علوم پزشکی تهران

52,268 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The roll-to-roll production and wet-chemical doping of predominantly monolayer 30-inch graphene films grown by chemical vapour deposition onto flexible copper substrates are reported, showing high quality and sheet resistances superior to commercial transparent electrodes such as indium tin oxides.
Abstract: The outstanding electrical, mechanical and chemical properties of graphene make it attractive for applications in flexible electronics. However, efforts to make transparent conducting films from graphene have been hampered by the lack of efficient methods for the synthesis, transfer and doping of graphene at the scale and quality required for applications. Here, we report the roll-to-roll production and wet-chemical doping of predominantly monolayer 30-inch graphene films grown by chemical vapour deposition onto flexible copper substrates. The films have sheet resistances as low as approximately 125 ohms square(-1) with 97.4% optical transmittance, and exhibit the half-integer quantum Hall effect, indicating their high quality. We further use layer-by-layer stacking to fabricate a doped four-layer film and measure its sheet resistance at values as low as approximately 30 ohms square(-1) at approximately 90% transparency, which is superior to commercial transparent electrodes such as indium tin oxides. Graphene electrodes were incorporated into a fully functional touch-screen panel device capable of withstanding high strain.

7,709 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The transparency, conductivity, and ambipolar transfer characteristics of the films suggest their potential as another materials candidate for electronics and opto-electronic applications.
Abstract: In this work we present a low cost and scalable technique, via ambient pressure chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on polycrystalline Ni films, to fabricate large area (∼cm2) films of single- to few-layer graphene and to transfer the films to nonspecific substrates. These films consist of regions of 1 to ∼12 graphene layers. Single- or bilayer regions can be up to 20 μm in lateral size. The films are continuous over the entire area and can be patterned lithographically or by prepatterning the underlying Ni film. The transparency, conductivity, and ambipolar transfer characteristics of the films suggest their potential as another materials candidate for electronics and opto-electronic applications.

5,663 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review will explore the materials properties of transparent conductors, covering traditional metal oxides and conductive polymers initially, but with a focus on current developments in nano-material coatings.
Abstract: Transparent electrodes are a necessary component in many modern devices such as touch screens, LCDs, OLEDs, and solar cells, all of which are growing in demand. Traditionally, this role has been well served by doped metal oxides, the most common of which is indium tin oxide, or ITO. Recently, advances in nano-materials research have opened the door for other transparent conductive materials, each with unique properties. These include CNTs, graphene, metal nanowires, and printable metal grids. This review will explore the materials properties of transparent conductors, covering traditional metal oxides and conductive polymers initially, but with a focus on current developments in nano-material coatings. Electronic, optical, and mechanical properties of each material will be discussed, as well as suitability for various applications.

1,947 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors demonstrate solution-processed transparent electrodes consisting of random meshes of metal nanowires that exhibit an optical transparency equivalent to or better than that of metal-oxide thin films for the same sheet resistance.
Abstract: Transparent conductive electrodes are important components of thin-film solar cells, light-emitting diodes, and many display technologies. Doped metal oxides are commonly used, but their optical transparency is limited for films with a low sheet resistance. Furthermore, they are prone to cracking when deposited on flexible substrates, are costly, and require a high-temperature step for the best performance. We demonstrate solution-processed transparent electrodes consisting of random meshes of metal nanowires that exhibit an optical transparency equivalent to or better than that of metal-oxide thin films for the same sheet resistance. Organic solar cells deposited on these electrodes show a performance equivalent to that of devices based on a conventional metal-oxide transparent electrode.

1,819 citations