Development of self-attachable flexible transparent electrodes with low resistant electrical contacts

Abstract

Flexible transparent conductive electrodes are key elements of the emerging flexible electronic and energy devices. This electrode should form an intimate physical contact with various active components. However, contact formation techniques are based largely on conventional soldering, mechanical clamping, and thin film deposition. These generally result in damaged, contaminated, bulky, and uncontrollable contact interfaces. Here, we propose a self-attachable, flexible, transparent, and conductive electrode that is based on a distinctive design of regular grid patterns into which bioinspired adhesive architectures and percolating Ag nanowires are integrated. Based on the integrated design, the proposed electrode forms reliable, low-resistant electrical contacts; strong mechanical adhesive contacts; and ultra-clean, damage-free contact interfaces with active device components by attaching onto the components without using additional process. Moreover, specific electronic circuits can be generated on the electrode surface by a selective deposition of Ag nanowires. This enables simple interconnections of diverse electronic components on its surface.