TY - JOUR
T1 - Ultra-flexible and transparent electrodes with controllable crack length via metal–polymer hybrid nanostructure
AU - Han, Suhyeon
AU - Ju, Byeong Kwon
AU - Yang, Chanwoo
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Manufacturing Innovation Support Project and Industry-leading Core Production Technology Development Project of the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology ( KITECH ), and granted financial resources from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Republic of Korea (No. JH210009 and EO220006 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022
PY - 2022/9/1
Y1 - 2022/9/1
N2 - We propose a method for improving the flexibility of transparent electrodes through a mechanism that effectively reduces the crack length under cyclic folding fatigue. Our proposed method is based on the use of a metal–polymer hybrid (MPH) nanostructure composed of indium tin oxide (ITO), Ag, and a fluoropolymer, which are commercially available materials widely used in the display-panel manufacturing industry. For flexible electrodes wherein the MPH nanostructure was adjusted using Ag sputtering powers within the range of 20–50 W, the changes in the resistance after 100,000 folding cycles with a peak strain of 2.5% were 4.57–17.9%, whereas those in the case of the ITO/Ag/ITO (IAI) thin-film electrode, i.e., without the MPH nanostructure, increased dramatically to 11,228%. Through the introduction of the MPH nanostructure, the crack length was significantly reduced to 8.76–88.1 μm compared to that of the IAI thin-film electrode (> 945 μm), and also became controllable through the adjustment of the number density of the MPH nanostructure.
AB - We propose a method for improving the flexibility of transparent electrodes through a mechanism that effectively reduces the crack length under cyclic folding fatigue. Our proposed method is based on the use of a metal–polymer hybrid (MPH) nanostructure composed of indium tin oxide (ITO), Ag, and a fluoropolymer, which are commercially available materials widely used in the display-panel manufacturing industry. For flexible electrodes wherein the MPH nanostructure was adjusted using Ag sputtering powers within the range of 20–50 W, the changes in the resistance after 100,000 folding cycles with a peak strain of 2.5% were 4.57–17.9%, whereas those in the case of the ITO/Ag/ITO (IAI) thin-film electrode, i.e., without the MPH nanostructure, increased dramatically to 11,228%. Through the introduction of the MPH nanostructure, the crack length was significantly reduced to 8.76–88.1 μm compared to that of the IAI thin-film electrode (> 945 μm), and also became controllable through the adjustment of the number density of the MPH nanostructure.
KW - Controllable crack length
KW - Crack propagation preventing nanostructure
KW - Cyclic bending fatigue
KW - Flexible electrodes
KW - Nanostructured electrodes
KW - Transparent electrodes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85134413749&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.tsf.2022.139388
DO - 10.1016/j.tsf.2022.139388
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85134413749
SN - 0040-6090
VL - 757
JO - Thin Solid Films
JF - Thin Solid Films
M1 - 139388
ER -