Flexible substrate transparent conductive film: application of ITO in optoelectronic devices

With the development of technology, electronic devices, especially flat panel displays, are moving towards lightweight and flexible substratesTransparent conductive filmDue to its advantages of light weight, deformability, and non fragility, it has become a major research hotspot internationally.

As is well known, ITO has been successfully used as a transparent conductive film in optoelectronic devices for more than 50 years. However, due to its poor flexibility, it is completely unsuitable as a material for preparing flexible transparent conductive thin films. Nano silver wire (AgNW) transparent conductive film is the most promising material to replace ITO due to its excellent conductivity, transmittance, and bending properties. The preparation method and properties of nano silver wire flexible transparent conductive film are as follows:

This article first uses vacuum filtration to prepare nano silver wire thin films on a mixed cellulose (MCE) membrane. Then, the MCE membrane is dissolved in acetone and AgNW is transferred onto polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates. By using the transfer method, different substrates can be selected to effectively overcome the poor high-temperature resistance of flexible substrates. In addition, due to the fact that the MCE film itself becomes transparent and pore free after being placed in acetone vapor environment for a period of time, MCE can be directly used as the substrate, eliminating the transfer step and making the preparation of flexible transparent conductive nano silver wire thin films simpler.

2. The conductivity, transparency, flexibility, and adhesion properties of flexible transparent AgNWs conductive films prepared on different substrates were studied. Research has shown that AgNWs based on transparent MCE exhibit the best optoelectronic properties, resulting in AgNWs MCE films with a transmittance of approximately 85% and a square resistance of 50 Ω/(?); The adhesion between AgNWs MCE and AgNWs PVA films and the substrate is excellent, and after tape and friction testing, the sheet resistance of the films changes very little.

3. The AgNWs PET film with poor adhesion to the substrate was improved through three methods: adding an adhesive layer, dissolving the substrate surface, and adding a protective layer. The adhesion of the improved AgNWs PET film has been significantly improved, with the method of increasing the adhesion layer being the most effective.

4. The patterning of AgNWs PVA film was achieved through laser etching, and the patterned AgNWs PVA film circuit was successfully used to prepare transparent and flexible LED display circuits.