Sequential manufacturing via intra-additive hybrid materials approach for fully roll-to-roll processed flexible organic thin film transistors

Abstract

Conventional conductive films that are used as electrodes in organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) are susceptible to mechanical deformation, limiting the applicability of such films in flexible wearable electronic devices. To address this limitation, a hybrid conductive film (HCF) consisting of silver nanowires (NWs) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) doped with poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) fabricated through roll-to-roll (R2R) slot-die coating is presented for use as a gate electrode in OTFTs. Mechanical stability compares by bending and taping test measurement quantitatively. Coating flow rate significantly influences sheet resistance and transmittance. A performance evaluation of the OTFTs with the Ag NW/PEDOT:PSS HCF as the gate electrode shows that the charge carrier mobility and on/off current ratio are 2.168 cm2 V−1 s−1 and 6 × 105, respectively. In addition, the HCF is highly flexible, and the HCF-based OTFTs exhibit 57% less mobility reduction than a conventional OTFT based on silver ink after 50,000 bending cycles with a 2 mm bending radius. These results highlight the potential of the fabricated HCF as an electrode material for flexible electronic devices.