Abstract
In this work, silver nanowire inks with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) binders were coated on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates and welded via flash white light and ultraviolet C (UV-C) irradiation to produce highly conductive transparent electrodes. The coated silver nanowire films were firmly welded and embedded into PET substrate successfully at room temperature and under ambient conditions using an in-house flash white light welding system and UV-C irradiation. The effects of light irradiation conditions (light energy, irradiation time, pulse duration, and pulse number) on the silver nanowire networks were studied and optimized. Bending fatigue tests were also conducted to characterize the reliability of the welded transparent conductive silver nanowire films. The surfaces of the welded silver nanowire films were analyzed via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), while the transmittance of the structures was measured using a spectrophotometer. From the results, a highly conductive and transparent silver nanowire film with excellent reliability could be achieved at room temperature under ambient conditions via the combined flash white light and UV-C irradiation welding process.
Highlights
Silver nanowire inks with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) binders were coated on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates and welded via flash white light and ultraviolet C (UV-C) irradiation to produce highly conductive transparent electrodes
The UV-C light was used for the effectively welding of silver nanowire as well as the decomposition of HPMC binder that help the silver nanowire embedded into the PET substrate
It was concluded that a highly conductive and transparent silver nanowire film with excellent mechanical reliability could be produced at room temperature under ambient conditions via the combined flash white light and UV-C irradiation welding process
Summary
The sheet resistance of the coated silver nanowires decreased as the weight fraction of HPMC binder was increased. Such a result indicates that more extensive contact was induced among the silver nanowires at higher HPMC binder concentrations. The sheet resistance uniformity improved as the weight fraction of HPMC binder was increased with the exception of the film made with 0.3 wt% HPMC binder (Fig. 2(b,c), Table 1) These findings are similar to those reported by other researchers, where methoxyl and hydroxypropyl groups in the HPMC binder were found to improve dispersion and adhesion among the silver nanowires[23,29,30]. The residual HPMC binder may inhibit direct contact between the silver nanowires and the sheet resistance of the sample irradiated for
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