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Nano Research 2024, 17(5): 4288-4297 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-6341-3
Research Article | Issue | Published: 28 December 2023

Transparent micropatterned conductive films based on highly-ordered nanowire network

Show Author's Information Xin-Ran Zhang,  Hai-Tao Deng,  Xu Zeng,  Yi-Lin Wang,  Peng Huang,  Xiao-Sheng Zhang( )
School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
Keywords:
flexible electronics, nanowires, micropatterning, transparent conductive network, micro electromechanical systems (MEMS)
Topics:
Self assembly
Cite this article:
Zhang X-R, Deng H-T, Zeng X, et al. Transparent micropatterned conductive films based on highly-ordered nanowire network. Nano Research, 2024, 17(5): 4288-4297. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-6341-3
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Transparent conductive films that are based on nanowire networks are essential to construct flexible, wearable, and even stretchable electronics. However, large-scale precise micropatterning, especially with regard to the controllability of the organizing orientation of nanowires, is a critical challenge. Herein, we proposed a liquid film rupture self-assembly approach for manufacturing transparent conductive films with microstructure arrays based on a highly ordered nanowire network. The large-scale microstructure conductive films were fabricated through air–liquid interface self-assembly and liquid film rupture self-assembly. Six typical micropattern morphologies, including square, hexagon, circle, serpentine, etc., were prepared to reveal the universal applicability of the proposed approach. The homogeneity and controllability of this approach were verified for multiple assemblies. With the assembly cycles increasing, the optical transmittance decreases slightly. In addition, theoretical model analysis is carried out, and the analytical formula of the speed of the film moving with the surface tension and the density of the liquid film is presented. Finally, the feasibility of this approach for piezoresistive strain sensors is verified. This fabrication approach demonstrated a cost-effective and efficient method for precisely arranging nanowires, which is useful in transparent and wearable applications.


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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

Transparent micropatterned conductive films based on highly-ordered nanowire network

Show Author's information Xin-Ran Zhang, Hai-Tao Deng, Xu Zeng, Yi-Lin Wang, Peng Huang, Xiao-Sheng Zhang( )
School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China

Abstract

Transparent conductive films that are based on nanowire networks are essential to construct flexible, wearable, and even stretchable electronics. However, large-scale precise micropatterning, especially with regard to the controllability of the organizing orientation of nanowires, is a critical challenge. Herein, we proposed a liquid film rupture self-assembly approach for manufacturing transparent conductive films with microstructure arrays based on a highly ordered nanowire network. The large-scale microstructure conductive films were fabricated through air–liquid interface self-assembly and liquid film rupture self-assembly. Six typical micropattern morphologies, including square, hexagon, circle, serpentine, etc., were prepared to reveal the universal applicability of the proposed approach. The homogeneity and controllability of this approach were verified for multiple assemblies. With the assembly cycles increasing, the optical transmittance decreases slightly. In addition, theoretical model analysis is carried out, and the analytical formula of the speed of the film moving with the surface tension and the density of the liquid film is presented. Finally, the feasibility of this approach for piezoresistive strain sensors is verified. This fabrication approach demonstrated a cost-effective and efficient method for precisely arranging nanowires, which is useful in transparent and wearable applications.

Keywords: flexible electronics, nanowires, micropatterning, transparent conductive network, micro electromechanical systems (MEMS)

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Publication history
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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 18 September 2023
Revised: 07 November 2023
Accepted: 17 November 2023
Published: 28 December 2023
Issue date: May 2024

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press 2023

Acknowledgements

This work is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 62074029, 61905035, 61971108, 62004029, and 51905554), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2022YFB3206100), the Key R&D Program of Sichuan Province (Nos. 2022JDTD0020 and 2020ZHCG0038), the Sichuan Science and Technology Program (Nos. 2020JDJQ0036, 2019YJ0198, and 2020YJ0015), the Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan (No. 2022NSFSC1941), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. ZYGX2019Z002).

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