Silver Nanowire Network Transparent Electrodes with Highly Enhanced Flexibility by Welding for Application in Flexible Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

We present highly flexible Ag nanowire (AgNW) networks welded with transparent conductive oxide (TCO) for use in electrical interconnects in flexible and wearable electronic devices. The hybrid transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs) produced on polymer substrates consist of AgNW networks and TCO that is deposited atop the AgNWs. The TCO firmly welds the AgNWs together at the junctions and the AgNWs to the polymer substrates. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis show that TCO atop and near AgNWs grows as crystalline because AgNWs act as crystalline seeds, but the crystallinity of the matrix TCO can be controlled by sputtering conditions. The sheet resistances (R-s) of hybrid TCEs are less than the AgNW networks because junction resistance is significantly reduced due to welding by TCO. The effect of welding on decreasing R-s is enhanced with increasing matrix crystallinity, as the adhesion between AgNWs and TCO is improved. Furthermore, the bending stability of the hybrid TCEs are almost equivalent to and better than AgNW networks in static and cyclic bending tests, respectively. Flexible organic light-emitting diodes (f-OLEDs) are successfully fabricated on the hybrid TCEs without top-coats and the performances of f-OLEDs on hybrid TCEs are almost equivalent to those on commercial TCO, which supports replacing indium tin oxide (ITO) with the hybrid TCEs in flexible electronics applications.