A mechanically robust silver nanowire-polydimethylsiloxane electrode based on facile transfer printing techniques for wearable displays

Nanoscale. 2019 Jan 23;11(4):1520-1530. doi: 10.1039/c8nr08819e.

Abstract

Silver nanowire (AgNW) networks have attracted considerable attention as transparent electrodes for emerging flexible optoelectronics. However, the transference of such networks onto diverse arbitrary substrates with high conductivity remains a challenge because of the possibility of detaching and sliding occurring at the interface. Therefore, we developed a water-assisted transfer printing method for the fabrication and transfer of an AgNW-polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) electrode. This innovative approach exhibits a robust ability for thin film transfer onto arbitrary substrates and has highly controlled and nondestructive characteristics. The obtained electrodes exhibited a high ratio of DC conductivity to optical conductivity of 200, a low sheet resistance of 9 Ω sq-1 at 82%, tensile strain (0% to 50%), and flexibility (bending radius of less than 2 mm) without significant loss of conductivity compared with devices fabricated through conventional methods. Furthermore, we demonstrated a novel textile-based flexible light-emitting electrochemical cell (PLEC) based on the stretchable AgNW-PDMS electrode and buckling concept, thereby realizing highly stretchable PLECs with excellent performance and mechanical robustness. The luminance intensity of the strained device was optimized to 58 cd m-2 at 7 V under 10% linear strain without damaging the electroluminescence properties. Notably, this effective and practical transfer method provides a way to develop electronic nanowire devices with unique configurations and high performances.