Realizing Intrinsically Stretchable Transparent Electrodes via Silver Nanowires/PEDOT:PSS/Polyvinyl Alcohol Composites on the Polyurethane Substrate

Abstract

Stretchable transparent electrodes (STEs) have garnered considerable attention as a fundamental architectural component in the realm of conformable and wearable electronics. This study presents a novel approach utilizing composite inks based on silver nanowires to fabricate STEs, with the incorporation of a conductive polymer as the leveling agent and polyvinyl alcohol as the bonding agent. The resulting STE demonstrates several desirable properties, including low sheet resistance (15.6 Ω sq−1) and surface roughness facilitated by poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate. Moreover, the STE demonstrates strong adhesive strength to various plastic substrates, high transparency (>80%), and remarkable stretchability of up to 100%. Notably, the STE exhibits exceptional thermal stability under thermal stress at 200 °C for extended durations of up to 300 min. As a result, flexible organic solar cells employing this composite STE achieve outstanding performance in terms of high efficiency, robust mechanical durability, and remarkable thermal stability.