Abstract
Thickness-controlled transparent conducting films (TCFs) were fabricated by transfer printing a 100 nm thick Cu micromesh structure onto poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) substrates of different thicknesses (~ 50, ~ 80, and ~ 120 μm) to develop a lightweight transparent wearable heater with short response time. The Cu mesh-based TCF fabricated on a ~ 50 µm thick PVA substrate exhibited excellent optical and electrical properties with a light transmittance of 86.7% at 550 nm, sheet resistance of ~ 10.8 Ω/sq, and figure-of-merit of approximately 236, which are comparable to commercial indium tin oxide film-based transparent conductors. The remarkable flexibility of the Cu mesh-based TCF was demonstrated through cyclic mechanical bending tests. In addition, the Cu mesh-based TCF with ~ 50 μm thick PVA substrate demonstrated a fast Joule heating performance with a thermal response time of ~ 18.0 s and a ramping rate of ~ 3.0 ℃/s under a driving voltage of 2.5 V. Lastly, the reliable response and recovery characteristics of the Cu mesh/PVA film-based transparent heater were confirmed through the cyclic power test. We believe that the results of this study is useful in the development of flexible transparent heaters, including lightweight deicing/defogging films, wearable sensors/actuators, and medical thermotherapy pads.
Highlights
Transparent heaters (THs) have been studied for multiple potential applications, including smart windows [1, 2], defrosters [3, 4], thermochromic displays [5, 6], physical/ chemical sensors [7, 8], and other advanced heat-generating systems [9–11]
In this work, transparent conducting film (TCF) based on a uniform Cu mesh structure were fabricated by a tranfer printing method without a lift-off, etching or electroplating process [24]
A transparent poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) substrate was used as the receiver for the selective transfer of the Cu mesh layer from the polyurethane acrylate (PUA)
Summary
Transparent heaters (THs) have been studied for multiple potential applications, including smart windows [1, 2], defrosters [3, 4], thermochromic displays [5, 6], physical/ chemical sensors [7, 8], and other advanced heat-generating systems [9–11]. A lightweight flexible Cu mehs/PVA film-based transparent conducting film (TCF) based on a ~ 50 μm thick PVA substrate with optical and electrical properties comparable to commercial ITO glass was sucessfully fabricated. The Cu mesh/PVA film-based TCF demonstrated its fast, stable, and reliable performance for TH applications.
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