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Abstract
We demonstrated hydrophobic, flexible/stretchable, and transparent electrodes made up of Ag nanowire (NW) networks passivated by a sputtered polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) layer to produce self-cleaning transparent thin film heaters (TFHs). Using carbon nanotubes and a PTFE mixed conducting target, we successfully sputtered a transparent PTFE layer on the Ag NW network using mid-frequency magnetron sputtering. The hydrophobic surface of the PTFE/Ag NW electrodes led to water-repelling and self-cleaning transparent Ag NW electrodes, which are beneficial for transparent TFH-based smart windows. Furthermore, hydrophobic PTFE/Ag NW electrodes coated on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyurethane (PU) substrates showed outstanding flexibility and stretchability, respectively, due to the capping effect of the PTFE layer. Based on outer/inner bending and stretching test results, we demonstrated the superior mechanical properties of the PTFE/Ag NW electrode compared to a bare Ag NW electrode. Finally, we investigated the feasibility of the PTFE/Ag NW film coated on a PU substrate as a transparent and stretchable electrode for stretchable and self-cleaning transparent TFHs. The effective heat generation of the stretchable PTFE/Ag NW electrode indicates the potential for energy-efficient multi-functional PTFE/Ag NW-based TFHs attached to automobile windows.
Highlights
We report highly exible/stretchable, transparent, and superhydrophobic Ag NW network electrodes passivated by polytetra uoroethylene (PTFE) using a midfrequency (MF) magnetron sputtering to realize self-cleaning and transparent thin film heaters (TFHs)
The PTFE/Ag NW hybrid electrode represented by Fig. 1(b), the Ag NW percolating network acted as a exible or stretchable conduction path for current ow while the PTFE layer acted as a hydrophobic passivation layer to protect the Ag NW network and prevent heat loss from the TFHs
Radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering has been considered as a simple, largearea coating technique, and is a mature thin lm process compared to many physical vapor deposition (PVD) techniques, investigations of MF- or DC-sputtered PTFE layers is still lacking due to the absence of a conductive PTFE sputtering target
Summary
Transparent thin lm heaters (TFHs) have attracted much interest for use in defogging/de-icing windows and as heating sources for automobiles, displays, sensors, reaction cells, microchips, and transparent vinyl-based greenhouses.[1,2,3] In particular, the demand for exible or stretchable TFHs that can be attached to curved windows or the human body has rapidly increased due to advances in smart windows and wearable electronics.[4,5] Among the several components which comprise transparent and stretchable TFHs, high-performance transparent electrodes with low resistivity, high transparency, and outstanding mechanical exibility/stretchability are very important because the power injection, heat generation properties, heating uniformity, and transparency of TFHs are critically affected by the electrical, optical, and mechanical properties of the electrodes.
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