Issue |
Natl Sci Open
Volume 4, Number 2, 2025
Special Topic: Flexible Electronics and Micro/Nanomanufacturing
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | 20240016 | |
Number of page(s) | 15 | |
Section | Engineering | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1360/nso/20240016 | |
Published online | 02 September 2024 |
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Self-confined electrohydrodynamic printing on micro-structured substrate for flexible transparent electrodes with embedded metal mesh
1
State Key Laboratory of Intelligent Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
2
School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
3
Hubei Key Laboratory of Mechanical Transmission and Manufacturing Engineering, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, China
* Corresponding authors (emails: panyanqiao@wust.edu.cn (Yanqiao Pan); yahuang@hust.edu.cn (YongAn Huang))
Received:
5
May
2024
Revised:
6
June
2024
Accepted:
29
August
2024
Flexible transparent electrodes (FTEs) have attracted much attention due to their advantages of excellent optical/electrical conductivities and good mechanical fatigue strength. However, their fabrication presents several challenges, including fabricating wires with a high aspect ratio and sufficient tensile resistance. In this study, an embedded Ag/Cu metal-mesh FTE with a high figure of merit 24,708 (sheet resistance 0.08 Ω/sq and 83.4% optical transmittance) is fabricated through the proposed method called self-confined electrohydrodynamic printing and selective electroplating of Cu. This method employs structured surfaces and patterned hydrophilic/hydrophobic properties to enable highly controllable deposition of solutions (e.g., positioning, line width, consistency), allowing the complete filling of imprinted microgrooves with a high aspect ratio of 2 (e.g., 4 μm width and 8 μm depth) with Ag/Cu metal. Moreover, the resulting FTEs demonstrate good resistance stability under repetitive bending and stretching and exhibit excellent performance in flexible transparent heaters and electromagnetic shielding films.
Key words: flexible transparent electrodes / embedded metal mesh / electrohydrodynamic printing / stretchable electronics
© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Science Press and EDP Sciences.
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