Liquid crystal–Based flexible smart windows on roll-to-roll slot die–Coated Ag nanowire network films

Abstract

We developed polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC)-based large-area flexible smart windows using continuous roll-to-roll (RTR) slot die–coated Ag nanowire (NW) percolating network electrodes. By simply printing Ag NW ink on flexible poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) substrates with 400 mm width, we fabricated cost-effective, transparent, and flexible Ag NW electrodes with a low sheet resistance of 50 Ohm/square and high transmittance of 88% for high-performance and large-area flexible PDLCs. Although the Ag NW electrode exhibited similar electrical and optical properties to typical indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes, the Ag NW electrode had superior flexibility to the brittle ITO, which is important for flexible PDLCs. The PDLC window fabricated with the Ag NW electrode exhibited good transparency switching performance and outstanding flexibility. By producing a PDLC window with a width of 400 mm and length of 2 m, we demonstrated the feasibility of large-area flexible PLDCs based on continuous RTR-coated Ag NW electrodes for smart windows.