High-performance copper nanowire electrode for efficient flexible organic light-emitting diode

Highly conductive and robust polyvinyl alcohol/copper nanowire (PVA/CuNW) flexible transparent conductive electrode (FTCE) is fabricated via a simple and low-cost process at room temperature. The CuNW film is formed on a mixed cellulose ester (MCE) membrane by vacuum filtration. Subsequently, the flowing glacial acetic acid (GAA)-toluene solution passes through them to remove the oxide layer without damaging nanowires. The final PVA/CuNW FTCE is constructed by embedding the treated CuNWs into a pre-prepared PVA binding layer on the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate, which presents excellent conductivity with a low sheet resistance of 46.2 S2/sq and a high transparency of 90.5% at 550 nm. Meanwhile, the chemical and mechanical stability have been significantly enhanced compared with the bare CuNW FTCE attributed to the protective effect of the PVA binding layer. A flexible phosphorescent OLED device using such PVA/CuNW FTCE as the anode exhibits a current efficiency of 26.4 cd/A at 1000 cd/m2, which is comparable to that of the reference device (27.1 cd/A) based on indium tin oxide anode on glass, indicating its high potential for application in flexible optoelectronics.

Automated summary

A highly conductive and robust polyvinyl alcohol/copper nanowire flexible transparent conductive electrode (FTCE) was fabricated through a simple and low-cost process at room temperature. The electrode demonstrated excellent conductivity, transparency, and chemical/mechanical stability, making it suitable for flexible optoelectronic devices.