title: A transparent electrode based on a metal nanotrough network.
abstract: Transparent conducting electrodes are essential components for numerous flexible optoelectronic devices, including touch screens and interactive electronics. Thin films of indium tin oxide-the prototypical transparent electrode material-demonstrate excellent electronic performances, but film brittleness, low infrared transmittance and low abundance limit suitability for certain industrial applications. Alternatives to indium tin oxide have recently been reported and include conducting polymers, carbon nanotubes and graphene. However, although flexibility is greatly improved, the optoelectronic performance of these carbon-based materials is limited by low conductivity. Other examples include metal nanowire-based electrodes, which can achieve sheet resistances of less than 10Ω □(-1) at 90% transmission because of the high conductivity of the metals. To achieve these performances, however, metal nanowires must be defect-free, have conductivities close to their values in bulk, be as long as possible to minimize the number of wire-to-wire junctions, and exhibit small junction resistance. Here, we present a facile fabrication process that allows us to satisfy all these requirements and fabricate a new kind of transparent conducting electrode that exhibits both superior optoelectronic performances (sheet resistance of ~2Ω □(-1) at 90% transmission) and remarkable mechanical flexibility under both stretching and bending stresses. The electrode is composed of a free-standing metallic nanotrough network and is produced with a process involving electrospinning and metal deposition. We demonstrate the practical suitability of our transparent conducting electrode by fabricating a flexible touch-screen device and a transparent conducting tape.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, California 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Desheng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.forename: Zhichao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ruan
authors.forename: Po-Chun
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zongfu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Carney
authors.forename: Liangbing
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Shanhui
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cui
mesh_terms: D004553:Electric Conductivity; D004566:Electrodes; D004581:Electronics; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D008670:Metals / Q000737:chemistry; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry*; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D053770:Nanowires / Q000737:chemistry; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D017971:Tin Compounds / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D008670:Metals; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D011108:Polymers; D017971:Tin Compounds; C109984:indium tin oxide; D006108:Graphite