Highly efficient silver nanowire/PEDPT:PSS composite microelectrodes via poly(ethylene glycol) photolithography

Microelectrode technologies have been widely used for a number of applications including optoelectronic and bioelectronics. In this study, we report highly conductive and highly reliable silver nanowire (AgNW)/poly(3,4,-ethylene dioxy thiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) composite microelectrodes fabricated by simple poly(ethylene glycol) photolithography. The electrical properties of AgNW/PEDOT:PSS were examined as functions of the AgNW concentration and layer number, and then compared with those of pure AgNWs. Importantly, the AgNW/PEDOT: PSS composite exhibited a high conductivity with a low sheet resistance of 1.22 Omega/rectangle as well as an excellent electrical standard deviation of 0.96 Omega/rectangle in a reliability test. We also demonstrated that these composite micropatterns were completely transferred from the glass to a flexible hydrogel by a direct transfer process. Moreover, the composite microelectrodes exhibited increases in the electrical resistance of only 11 and 24% after over 300 and 500 bending cycles, which were 65 and 90% enhancements compared to the single AgNW microelectrode, respectively. This novel approach could become a low-cost and efficient design for fabricating high-performance microelectrodes.