Novel transparent high-performance AgNWs/ZnO electrodes prepared on unconventional substrates with 3D structured surfaces

• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2017.10.054
• Publication Date: 2017-10-12T20:03:02Z
• Authors: Wei Lan; Zhiwei Yang; Yue Zhang; Yupeng Wei; Pengxiang Wang; Asim Abas; Guomei Tang; Xuetao Zhang; Junya Wang; Erqing Xie
• Keywords: 02 engineering and technology; 0210 nano-technology

Abstract With the development of optoelectronic devices with three-dimensional (3D) structured surfaces, transparent electrodes that can be deposited on non-plane substrates have become increasingly important. In this paper, novel transparent silver nanowire (AgNWs)/ZnO film electrodes were uniformly prepared on treated 3D glass and PET substrates with a combination of spin-coating and heat-welding. The AgNWs/ZnO films show a transmittance of ∼88% and a sheet resistance of ∼10 Ω/sq. They are comparable with commercial ITO films. Furthermore, only a small in-plane resistance variation of ∼1 Ω/sq was measured using four-point probe mapping in films with a 10 cm × 10 cm area. These results confirm that these novel film electrodes are very uniform. Both electrical resistance and optical transmittance of the films remain mostly intact after 1000 bending cycles and tape peeling-tests with 10 cycles. The films show high thermal stability for more than one month at 80 °C. The strategy provides a new route for the design and fabrication of optoelectronic devices with 3D structured surfaces.