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.

We report an industrially scalable, fast, and simple process for the large scale fabrication of optically transparent and electrically conducting thin films of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT). Purified, pristine HiPco SWNTs were dispersed in water at high concentrations with the help of surfactants, rod-coated into uniform thin films, and doped by various acids. We show how to combine different surfactants to make uniform dispersions with high concentration of SWNTs and optimal rheological behavior for coating and drying, including preventing dewetting and film rupture that has plagued earlier attempts. Doping by fuming sulfuric acid yielded the films with best performance (sheet resistance of 100 and 300 ⍀/sq for respective transparency of 70% and 90%). We use a figure of merit (FOM) plot for an immediate evaluation and comparison of the performance and microstructure of CNT films produced by different methods. Further scientific engineering will pave the way to the deployment of CNT films in commercial applications.

Abstract— Carbon‐nanotube (CNT) films on plastic are incorporated as the touch electrode in a four‐wire resistive touch panel. Single‐point actuation tests show superior mechanical performance to ITO touch electrodes, with no loss of device functionality up to 3 million actuations. Sliding‐stylus‐pen tests reveal no loss of device linearity after 1 million stylus cycles. A CNT refractive index of ∼1.55 leads to CNT touch panels with low reflection (<9% over the visible range) without costly anti‐reflective coatings. CNT films on PET currently have 86% total transmission (including the PET) over the visible and 600 Ω/□, with lab scale tests giving 88% at 500 Ω/□. CNT films are neutrally colored (a* ∼ 0, b* ∼ 1.5), low haze (<1%), uniform, and both chemically and environmentally stable. Unidym's solution‐based coatings can be printed directly onto both flexible and rigid polycarbonate using solution coating processes. Unidym films can be patterned using subtractive methods such as laser ablation with resolution down to 10 μm, or additive methods such as patterned gravure. CNTs are grown, purified, formulated into inks, and coated using scalable processes, allowing films to be attractive from a cost perspective as well.

In this work, we reported high performance OLED devices with transparent and conductive carbon nanotube anodes after modification. The modifications include IMRE proprietary PEDOT:PSS composite top coating (PS(C)), concentrated HNO(3) acid soaking, and polymer encapsulation. For PS(C)-modified nanotube thin film anode, we achieved maximum luminescence of approximately 9000 cd/m(2), close to ITO-based OLED device performance, and high efficiency of approximately 10 cd/A, similar with ITO-based OLED device. The performance is approximately 30 to 450 times better than that achieved for OLED devices using CNT anodes by others. In addition, we also investigate the mechanical property, work function, sheet resistance, and surface morphology of modified carbon nanotube thin-film anodes.

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