High-performance flexible transparent electrode films based on silver nanowire-PEDOT:PSS hybrid-gels

Abstract

We have developed highly transparent and electrically conductive hybrid-gel films based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and thin silver nanowires (Ag NWs) with diameters of 20 nm. Ionic gels based on PEDOT:PSS are ionic conductors consisting of anionic PSS and cationic PEDOT. Ag NWs were combined with the conductive PEDOT:PSS chains to assemble electrically conductive gels. The hybrid-gel films were created with a structure that incorporates Ag NWs into the conductive PEDOT chain matrix. We found that the conductivity significantly increased with Ag NW content. The optimized Ag NW-PEDOT:PSS hybrid-gel films exhibited excellent performance with a high transmittance of 92% and a small haze of 1.1% at a low sheet resistance of 20 Ω sq⁻¹, and good mechanical flexibility. Because of the high-performance, it is believed that the Ag NW-PEDOT:PSS hybrid-gel electrodes are highly suitable for practical use in flexible electronics.