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Updated: Jun 10, 2025
Scalable Solution-processed Fabrication Strategy for High-performance, Flexible, Transparent Electrodes with Embedded Metal Mesh
Published on: June 23, 2017
Kill Two Birds with One Stone: Cracking Lithography Technology for High-Performance Flexible Metallic Network
Jingxin Yan1, Zhen Wang1, Wenya Bai1
1Institute for Advanced Materials and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, South China Academy of Advanced Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
Abstract:
Flexible electronics have sparked a wide range of exciting applications, such as flexible display technologies, lighting, sensing, etc. Flexible conductors are essential components of flexible electronics and seriously affect efficiency and overall performance. Here, a facile and kill-two-birds-with-one-stone strategy of cracking lithography technology has been proposed to simultaneously fabricate two high-performance flexible conductors, flexible metallic network transparent conductors (f-NTCs) and metallic micronano sheets (MMNSs). The PET substrate flexible transparent conductors (FTCs) based on this strategy yield 88.1% transparency within the visible spectrum and a sheet resistance of 9 Ω/sq. In addition, the FTCs show exceptional mechanical stability, with the sheet resistance remaining virtually unchanged even after 6000 s of bending tests. Subsequently, the remaining MMNSs are recycled to manufacture a Ag paste, showing a very low conductive percolation threshold (∼13%) and excellent flexibility with 140% breaking elongation. After 1000 s of stretching tests, it showed excellent mechanical stability. Furthermore, flexible electroluminescent devices based on the FTCs and sensors fabricated with MMNSs both show excellent performance, demonstrating their potential wide applications in flexible electronics.
