High-Stability AgNWs/Gum Arabic Composite Electrodes for Flexible Organic Light-Emitting Devices

Abstract

Silver nanowires (AgNWs) electrodes are considered as promising candidates for applications in flexible optoelectronic devices due to their excellent mechanical flexibility and optoelectrical properties. However, AgNW-based flexible transparent electrodes suffer from critical limitations such as rough surface, low adhesion to substrates, poor bending resistance and inferior environmental stability, hindering their industrialized applications in flexible optoelectronic devices. In this study, degradable AgNWs composite electrodes with outstanding optoelectrical properties and mechanical stability were fabricated by adopting a natural eco-friendly material of gum arabic as a modification layer. The composite electrodes possess the low surface roughness of ~4.9 nm, the sheet resistance of 22±2 Ω/sq, the transmittance of ~98.3%, the exceptional mechanical stability of 200,000 bending cycles and the excellent environmental stability of 800 hours storage under ~80 °C and ~80% relative humidity. Based on the composite electrode, flexible green phosphorescent organic light-emitting device achieves a luminance of 55,140 cd/m² and a current efficiency of 77.4 cd/A. This research provides a facile and low-cost way for the fabrication of large area high-performance flexible transparent electrodes.