Fabrication of transparent flexible electrodes on polyethylene terephthalate substrate with high conductivity, high transmittance, and excellent stability

Abstract

Transparent flexible electrodes based on silver nanowires (AgNWs) have great potential for practical applications and many studies have been carried out to improve their conductivity, transparency, and surface roughness. In this study, we demonstrate a new approach for the fabrication of high-performance transparent flexible electrodes based on AgNWs and graphene oxide (GO) on polymer substrates using the pressing method. The surface morphology of the pressed AgNW/GO electrode was characterised by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The electrode had a low surface roughness with the root mean square (Rq) of 7 nm. The electrode exhibits a low sheet resistance of 22 Ω/sq, a high transmittance of ~88%, resulted in a figures-of-merit (FoM) value of ~12.6. The optical and electrical properties of the electrode are comparable to that of the flexible ITO electrode. In addition, the electrodes also displayed outstanding durability and mechanical stability. This simple and scalable fabrication method is expected to contribute to future studies on flexible transparent conductive electrodes.