Adhesive, reflective, and conductive films comprised of graphene nanosheets decorated with Ag nanoparticles for flexible electronics

A highly adhesive, reflective and conductive graphene-silver composite film has been fabricated on the modified surface of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. Graphene nanosheets (GNS) were decorated with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs-GNS) by electroless plating and co-deposited onto the polymer surfaces by spray-spin-spray technique. Peel test results showed that peeling strength between composite films and substrate increased from 1.2 N/cm to 4.8 N/cm by grafting. The average reflectance of composite films was reached 98% from results of the spectrometer, which was much higher than commercial Ag films. Owing to the co-deposition with AgNPs-GNS, the composite films exhibited a sheet resistance of 40 m Omega/sq, which was 80.3% lower than pristine silver films. In addition, AgNPs-GNS/Ag composite films maintained their conductive stability even after over 1000 times of bending tests and several hours of salt spray environment, indicating the application possibility of flexible circuits. Meanwhile, these composite films were used to produce several electronic components integrating on target circuit and the composite films could maintain a good stability of electrical conductivity even after being bending compression and bending tension. These results indicate that these high-quality, highly conductive and flexible composite films prepared by the spray-spin-spray method could be applied to real flexible electronics.

Automated summary

A highly adhesive, reflective and conductive graphene-silver composite film was successfully fabricated using electroless plating and spray-spin-spray technique. The composite film showed improvements in peel strength, reflectance, and sheet resistance compared to commercial silver films, as well as maintained good conductive stability after bending and exposure to salt spray environment. These results suggest that the composite films have great potential for applications in flexible electronics.