Abstract
A conductive, uniform, and ultra-smooth flexible transparent composite film is produced by embedding silver nanowires (AgNWs) into poly(vinyl-butyral) (PVB) without pressure or high-temperature annealing. The adhesion of AgNWs was greatly improved by embedding them in PVB, and surface roughness and sheet resistance (Rs) improvements were achieved through the use of the intense pulsed light (IPL) method, which welds the interconnections among AgNWs in a short time without heat or pressure treatment. The sheet resistance of PVB/AgNWs with the IPL(PAI) composite film reaches 12.6 ohm/sq with a transmittance of 85.7% (at 550 nm); no clear changes in the sheet resistance are observed after a substrate bending and tape test, suggesting excellent flexibility. In the case of PAI, the change in sheet resistance was only 2.6% after a 2,000-bend test, and the resulting bending radius was less than 1 mm. When IPL was exposed to PVB/AgNWs, the figure of merit was 2.36 times higher than that without exposure. Finally, flexible OLEDs using PAI exhibited comparable or higher electroluminescent characteristics than other devices with well-known flexible electrodes—including indium-zinc-oxide on polymer plastic—which is a promising discovery for flexible optoelectronic applications.
Highlights
With the increasing popularity of smartphones and tablets, the demand for flexible, low-cost, and transparent conductive films instead of expensive and brittle sputtered indium tin oxide (ITO) films has increased
We demonstrate a scalable and simple solution processing method to fabricate improved conductive, flexible, and ultra-smooth PVB/alternatives have been investigated: silver nanowires (AgNWs) with an intense pulsed light (IPL) (PAI) composite electrode without high pressure or temperature treatment
After de-hydration, the samples were exposed to 500 μs pulses of intense light using a photonic sintering system operating at an input voltage of 200 V (4 J/cm2) to form the welded interconnections[35] of AgNWs to reduce the sheet resistance, and to improve the adhesion between the AgNWs and PVB by reducing surface roughness
Summary
When the IPL interval was held constant at 500 μs, irradiation energies greater than 4 J/cm[2] considerably reduced the AgNWs sheet resistance in every instance This provides support for similar, and even improved, property enhancements for AgNWs when compared against longer time-consuming furnace heat treatment and high pressure processes.
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