Large-Scale Stretchable Semiembedded Copper Nanowire Transparent Conductive Films by an Electrospinning Template

With recent emergence of wearable electronic devices, flexible and stretchable transparent electrodes are the core components to realize innovative devices. The copper nanowire (CuNW) network is commonly chosen because of its high conductivity and transparency. However, the junction resistances and low aspect ratios still limit its further stretchable performance. Herein, a large-scale stretchable semiembedded CuNW transparent conductive film (TCF) was fabricated by electrolessly depositing Cu on the electrospun poly(4-vinylpyridine) polymer template semiembedded in polydimethylsiloxane. Compared with traditional CuNWs, which are as-coated on the flexible substrate, the semiembedded CuNW TCFs showed low sheet resistance (15.6 Ω·sq^-1 at ∼82% transmittance) as well as outstanding stretchability and mechanical stability. The light-emitting diode connected the stretchable semiembedded CuNW TCFs in the electric circuit still lighted up even after stretching with 25% strain. Moreover, this semiembedded CuNW TCF was successfully applied in polymer solar cells as a stretchable conductive electrode, which yielded a power conversion efficiency of 4.6% with 0.1 cm² effective area. The large-scale stretchable CuNW TCFs show potential for the development of wearable electronic devices.