Printable Silver Nanowire and PEDOT:PSS Nanocomposite Ink for Flexible Transparent Conducting Applications

Patterned deposition of highly flexible transparent conducting materials is essential to realize stretchable optoelectronic devices. Silver nanowires (NWs) are suitable for these applications because they possess high electrical conductivity and good optical transparency. However, NWs have poor surface adhesion and large roughness. Embedding them in a conducting polymer, such as poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS), is one way to overcome these disadvantages without affecting the optoelectronic properties. However, this is normally a two-step deposition process and difficult to pattern directly. In this work, we have formulated a stable and printable nanocomposite ink consisting of Ag NWs and PEDOT:PSS. This ink can be directly used for patterned deposition in a single-step process. The printed film shows 86% transparency and 23 Ω/sq sheet resistance, which is suitable for flexible transparent electrode applications. The printed film shows good adhesion and excellent stability to mechanical deformation, with less than 20% resistance variation after 10,000 bending cycles. The nanocomposite also exhibits improved thermal stability, planarity, reduced contact resistance, and good optical transparency when compared to pure Ag NWs. We demonstrate suitability of this nanocomposite using two applications −a printed transparent flexible antenna radiating at Wi-Fi frequencies and a printed transparent flexible heater suitable for antifogging applications. The nanocomposite properties make it suitable as a transparent electrode in flexible optoelectronic devices such as photovoltaics and light-emitting diodes.