A Korean research team has developed a technology to make flexible and stretchable transparent electrodes using silver nanowires, laying the groundwork for the development of stretchable electronic devices.
A research team consisting of Professor Lee Hyo-young at Sungkyunkwan University, Dr. Kim Yoon-chun, and PhD student Lee Han-rim announced on Feb. 16 that they successfully developed a tech to produce stretchable transparent electrodes. It was done by coating a polymer substrate with hydrogenated silicon, which was plated with silver nanowires and electrode materials. Finally, the material was again coated in graphene oxide.
In the past, it was difficult to join electrode materials such as silver nanowires with polymer substrates, even with the stretchability of substrates. To make sure that a polymer substrate can be combined with silver nanowires, the team changed the characteristics of the polymer substrate by exposing a thermal plasma on the surface of the substrate, which was then coated with hydrogenated silicon. Through this process, the surface of the polymer substrate was made to hold nanowires tightly. The silver nanowire-combined polymer substrate can play a role as an electrode, even when it is stretched or folded. In fact, the polymer substrate proved to be inseparable from conductive materials, even after it was folded or stretched 1000 times.
Professor Lee said, “I think that this technology will contribute to the development of stretchable organic semiconductors, such as solar cells and touch screens.”
This study was funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, and the research findings were first published online on Feb. 10 by Advanced Functional Materials, a bimonthly scientific journal published by Wiley-VCH.