"A transparent, conducting tape for flexible electronics" by Ya Huang, Suiyang Liao et al.

Article Title

A transparent, conducting tape for flexible electronics

Authors

Ya Huang, State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Suiyang Liao, State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Jie Ren, State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Bilal Khalid, State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Hailin Peng, Center for Nanochemistry, Beijing Science and Engineering Center for Nanocarbons, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Hui Wu, State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

Keywords

transparent electrode, silver nanowires, tape, flexible electronics

Abstract

Transparent electrodes are essential components for optoelectronic devices such as displays and thin-film solar cells. Traditionally, the deposition of transparent conducting layers and the sealing of the device are separate steps. Here we report on a highly transparent, conductive, and flexible “tape”, which can be obtained by transferring silver nanowire networks to conventional transparent tape. We utilized the viscidity of the tape to reduce the junction resistance between silver nanowires and further protect the nanowires from corrosion, oxidation and mechanical damage. By this simple method, we obtained a flexible tape with high transparency (~90% at 550 nm wavelength) and low sheet resistance (approaching 22 Ω·sq–1). The transparent tape can be attached and stuck firmly on complex surfaces, making the surface highly conductive. We demonstrated the use of the tape as both a conducting layer and a sealing layer for flexible electronics applications including in-situ temperature monitoring and electrochromic devices.