Folding-insensitive, flexible transparent conductive electrodes based on copper nanowires

Flexible transparent conductive electrodes (FTCEs) have received a great deal of attention for various applications due to their versatile ability. To demonstrate high-performance of FTCEs, numerous efforts have been focused on high conductivity, transparency and mechanical durability against bending. However, it is still a challenge for FTCEs to apply in foldable applications due to the degradation of electrical conductivity during folding. In this paper, high-performance FTCEs with folding-insensitivity are achieved by embedding copper nanowires (Cu NWs) into polymethyl methacrylate strategy via simple sol-gel transition. The prepared film demonstrates a very high transmittance of -94 % with a low sheet resistance of 56.3 0/sq. In particular, excellent insensitivity conductivity are achieved with a bending radius of 2.5 pm and the resistance remains nearly to be constant after 1000 folding cycles with a bending radius of 50 pm. Moreover, the film shows a good stability to resist long-term storage and ultrasonication. Finally, flexible transparent heater is fabricated based on the FTCEs, the immediate response make it have a great promise to be used as defrost, antifog and (light emitting diode) LED devices.

Automated summary

High-performance FTCEs with folding-insensitivity are achieved by embedding copper nanowires into polymethyl methacrylate, demonstrating high transmittance, low resistance, and stable conductivity after folding. The film shows excellent stability and has great potential for applications such as defrost, antifog, and LED devices.