Silver nanowire (Ag NW)-based transparent electrodes
(TEs) are
promising alternatives to indium tin oxide (ITO) for next-generation
flexible optoelectronic devices. Although many different constructs
of Ag NW networks and post-treatment methods have been developed for
TE applications, trade-offs between optical and electrical performance
still remain. Herein, aided by electrohydrodynamic (EHD) printing,
we present a cost-effective strategy to fabricate aligned Ag NW microgrids
in a large area with excellent uniformity, resulting in superior optoelectronic
properties. Guided by the percolation theory and simulation, we demonstrated
that by confining aligned Ag NWs into a microgrid arrangement, the
percolation threshold can be reduced significantly and adequate electrical
conducting pathways can be achieved with an optimized combination
of sheet resistance and optical transparency, which surpass conventional
random Ag NW networks and random aligned Ag NW networks. The resulting
TEs exhibit an ultrahigh transmittance of 99.1% at a sheet resistance
of 91 Ω sq–1 with extremely low nanowire usage,
an areal mass density of only 8.3 mg m–2, and uniform
spatial distribution. Based on this TE design, we demonstrated transparent
heaters exhibiting rapid thermal response and superior uniformity
in heat generation. Using UV-curable epoxy, highly flexible Ag NW-embedded
TEs were fabricated with superior mechanical stabilities and low surface
roughness of 2.6 nm. Bendable organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs)
are directly fabricated on these flexible Ag NW electrodes, with higher
current efficiency (27.7 cd A–1) than ITO devices
(24.8 cd A–1).
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