Flexible and Transparent Encapsulation Films with Self-Assembled Montmorillonite Induced by Marangoni Forces

Abstract

Organic semiconductors are used in organic opto-electronic devices because of their various advantages. However, they are vulnerable to moisture and oxygen. Thus, flexible and transparent encapsulations with barrier properties against moisture and oxygen need to be developed to fabricate bendable and foldable organic semiconductor devices. In this study, a simple and highly productive self-assembly process is developed from montmorillonites by using maximized Marangoni forces and a co-solvent in an aqueous water and a non-aqueous N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone medium for the fabrication of a flexible and transparent encapsulation film. Water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) and optical transmittance of montmorillonite-based flexible and transparent encapsulation films are modulated using different precursor solution concentrations and numbers of stacked montmorillonite layers. Long-term stability of transparent polymer solar cells with self-assembled flexible and transparent encapsulation films (WVTR of 6.66 x 10-3 g m-2 day-1 and optical transmittance of 90.5% at 550 nm) is enhanced, and performance of flexible polymer light-emitting diodes with flexible encapsulation films is maintained after 1000 bending cycles, even at a bending radius of 2 mm. Mechanical properties of prepared encapsulation films are analyzed by conducting tensile tests and finite element analysis simulations, demonstrating that an integrated analysis includes both devices and encapsulation films. Flexible and transparent encapsulation films are fabricated through self-assembly induced by Marangoni forces. The process is summarized, along with the nano-structures and other reliable properties of the encapsulation films. The applications of flexible polymer light-emitting diodes and transparent polymer solar cells, including their mechanical analysis, are demonstrated in this study. image