Intense Pulsed Light Welding Process with Mechanical Roll-Pressing for Highly Conductive Silver Nanowire Transparent Electrode

Abstract

In this work, the silver nanowires (AgNWs) were welded and embedded into polyethylene terephthalate substrate under room temperature and ambient conditions by an intense pulsed light (IPL) irradiation with applying mechanical roll-pressing simultaneously. To obtain high electrical conductivity and low surface roughness, the IPL irradiation conditions (pulse number, irradiation energy, pulse on-time, and pulse off-time) and roll-pressing conditions (maximum contact pressure, rolling counts) were optimized. The AgNW flexible transparent conductive electrodes (FTCEs) by IPL with the simultaneous mechanical roll-pressing showed noteworthy enhanced electrical property (Sheet resistance: 20.8 Ω/sq), optical properties (transmittance: 97.25%, haze: 1.56% at 550 nm wavelength), and smooth surface (surface roughness: 6.267 nm); the sheet resistance decreased about 60% and transmittance increased about 1%, and surface roughness decreased about 47% compared to the unwelded AgNW FTCEs. With the optimal IPL welding process with mechanical roll-pressing, the excellent stability of AgNW FTCEs could be obtained under various reliability tests such as tape peeling test, ultra-sonication test, and bending test (50,000 cycles) with a bending radius (1 mm). It was also successfully used to fabricate thin-film transistor as bottom gate and heating films showing excellent performances.