Transparent electrodes for flexible electronics developed

Sara Ver-Bruggen - 21 Dec 2010

University California Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers have developed an indium tin oxide (ITO) alternative for flexible electronics.

Researchers at the West Coast university's Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have developed the transparent electrode film using silver nanowires deposited onto a cross-linked, transparent polyacylate substrate.

The film is cheaper than glass, and is suitable for flexible OLED display and lighting devices, as well as organic solar cells.

According to the inventors of the clear conductor the shape-memory property of the polymer substrate could lead to electronic devices that can be deformed to various stable shapes. The deformation is reversible, causes minimal damage to the devices and can be repeated for many cycles.

Funding

Qibing Pei, a professor of materials science and engineering at UCLA Engineering, led the research which has received support from the US Department of Energy's Solid-State Lighting programme and the National Science Foundation.

Recently scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) developed an alternative transparent conductor to indium tin oxide (ITO) based on doped graphene. The coating was used as part of the structure of prototype organic solar cells.

By 2015 ITO alternatives will account for 20% of the transparent conductor market, from 5% in 2010.

Drivers include fluctuating ITO prices, which are rising again and adding to the cost of ITO coating processes. Many emerging alternatives to ITO are flexible thin-films made by depositing conductive nanomaterial solutions, at room temperature, on to plastic substrates.

The growing trend for thinner, increasingly conformable and flexible electronic gadgets is fuelling demand for new types of clear conductors, which are cost effective to produce and are not brittle, like ITO.

The EU-funded Hiflex project, running for three years, aims to produce ITO-free organic solar cells in collaboration with end-user partners.

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