A Transparent, Smooth, Thermally Robust, Conductive Polyimide for Flexible Electronics

Abstract

In this work, a thermally and mechanically robust, smooth transparent conductor composed of silver nanowires embedded in a colorless polyimide substrate is introduced. The polyimide is exceptionally chemically, mechanically, and thermally stable. While silver nanowire networks tend not to be thermally stable to high temperatures, the addition of a titania coating on the nano­wires dramatically increases their thermal stability. This allows for the polyimide to be thermally imidized at 360 °C with the silver nanowires in place, creating a smooth (<1 nm root mean square roughness), conductive surface. These transparent conducting substrate‐cum‐electrodes exhibit a conductivity ratio figure of merit of 272, significantly outperforming commercially available indium‐tin‐oxide (ITO)‐coated plastics. The conductive polymide is subjected to various mechanical tests and is used as a substrate for a thermally deposited, flexible, organic light‐emitting diode, which shows improved device performance compared to a control device made on ITO coated glass.

Fused silver nanowires with silica sol nanoparticles for smooth, flexible, electrically conductive and highly stable transparent electrodes

“…As is known, the RMS value of AgNWs has dramatic effects on their application. 54,55 The present results indicate that the low RMS value of the AgNWs based composite TCE with 50 nm silica sol nanoparticles makes it a good alternative candidate to ITO for use in touch screens or OLEDs.…”

Emerging Novel Metal Electrodes for Photovoltaic Applications

“…Various polymer materials, such as PVA, PDMS, PMMA, polyimide, polyelectrolyte, poly(acrylate), etc., have been investigated for the fabrication of flexible transparent electrodes to meet specific requirements in practical applications. [164][165][166][167][168][169][170][171][172][173][174][175][176][177][178][179][180][181] Pei and coworkers have made a lot of contributions in this area and various polymer materials have been developed for the application of optoelectronic devices. [182][183][184][185][186][187][188][189][190][191][192][193]…”

Fabrication of Transparent Conductive Film with Flexible Silver Nanowires Using Roll‐to‐Roll Slot‐Die Coating and Calendering and Its Application to Resistive Touch Panel

“…[13,14] In recent years, the use of flexible substrates to enable the production of flexible electronic devices has been attracting considerable attention. [21,22] Currently, indium tin oxide (ITO) flexible TCFs doped with a thin oxide layer are being commercialized. [15,16] A flexible TCF is formed by depositing a material having a high electrical conductivity and light transmittance onto a flexible substrate such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), [17,18] polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), [19] polyether sulfone (PES), [20] or polyimide (PI).…”