Binary Solvent Systems for Piezoelectric Printing Crack-Free PAM/ZrO x Hybrid Thin Films through Nanostructure Modulation

Zhennan Zhu; Jianhua Zhang; Honglong Ning; Yuexin Yang; Wei Xu; Rihui Yao; Xiuhua Cao; Biao Tang; Xubing Lu; Junbiao Peng

doi:10.1021/acs.langmuir.1c00500

Binary Solvent Systems for Piezoelectric Printing Crack-Free PAM/ZrO _x Hybrid Thin Films through Nanostructure Modulation

Langmuir. 2021 May 18;37(19):5979-5985. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.1c00500. Epub 2021 May 7.

Authors

Zhennan Zhu¹, Jianhua Zhang², Honglong Ning¹, Yuexin Yang¹, Wei Xu¹, Rihui Yao¹, Xiuhua Cao³, Biao Tang⁴, Xubing Lu⁵, Junbiao Peng¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Polymer Optoelectronic Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China.
² Key Laboratory of Advanced Display and System Applications of Ministry of Education, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Electronic Components, Fenghua Electronic Industrial Park, No. 18 Fenghua Road, Zhaoqing 526020, China.
⁴ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optical Information Materials and Technology & Institute of Electronic Paper Displays, South China Academy of Advanced Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
⁵ Institute for Advanced Materials and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China.

PMID: 33961745
DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.1c00500

Abstract

Polymer/oxide hybrid thin films, which have excellent electrical and mechanical performance, can be effectively fabricated through the sol-gel process, showing great potential in the future printed electronics. However, gelation of polymer/oxide ink systems can easily occur during a thermal process in which case capillary stress can lead to the crack of printed films due to the long period of stress accumulation. To solve this problem, the effect of different solvent systems on formed PAM/ZrO_x hybrid films, which were printed by piezoelectric printing, was studied in this paper, including single solvent systems of glycol and binary solvent systems of glycol and water. The result showed that the microstructure characteristics and mechanical properties of hybrid nanostructures formed in different solvent systems varied significantly, and crack behavior can be regulated by simply adjusting the water volume ratio of the solvent system. The crack formation was significantly inhibited when the water volume ratio reached 25%.