Rollerball-Pen-Drawing Technology for Extremely Foldable Paper-Based Electronics

It is reported that graphene oxide (GO) can work as the dispersing, associate thickening, stabilizing, adhesive, oxidation-resistant, and mechanical reinforcing agents simultaneously to formulate a drawable conductive ink with silver nanowire (AgNW). The synergistic effect of combining AgNW with GO can bring forth the AgNW-GO dynamic network, which imparts appropriate viscosity and rheological property to the ink for reliable roller-ball-pen drawing on paper and plastic substrates and enables the drawn conductive traces to simultaneously possess high conductivity, remarkable foldability, and stability. The electrical conductivity of the rollerball-pen drawn electrodes with mild post-treatment condition by drying at 25 degrees C for approximate to 5 min after writing on paper can achieve 2.3 x 10(4) S cm(-1). The drawn electrodes are used as extremely foldable electrodes that can retain a record high conductivity of 1.4 x 10(4) S cm(-1) after 1000 folding-unfolding cycles. The feasibility of the drawable conductive ink is further demonstrated by fabricating paper-based conductive circuits and a capacitive touch screen sensor with outstanding foldability.