UV‐Curable Adhesive Tape‐Assisted Patterning of Metal Nanowires for Ultrasimple Fabrication of Stretchable Pressure Sensor

Abstract Ag nanowires (AgNWs) have been highlighted as a flexible or stretchable transparent electrode material. Contrary to general perception, AgNWs have not been used in earnest for product development with a flexible form factor because the patterning of an AgNW‐based transparent electrode is complicated and costly, and its reproducibility and the possible pattern specifications are poor. Herein, a highly reproducible, practical patterning approach is developed that not only enables fine patterning down to 30 µm line width, but also enables complicated patterns. When the UV‐curable adhesive is irradiated with UV light, the oligomers cross‐link, resulting in 1) a decrease of adhesion, and 2) curing and shrinking. After attaching this adhesive tape to the temporary substrate coated with AgNWs, through the selective irradiation of UV and peel‐off of the tape, the AgNWs impregnated with the cured adhesive are removed from the temporary substrate, leaving finely defined AgNW patterns. The AgNW patterns thus fabricated are impregnated under the polydimethylsiloxane surface by an inverted layer processing, and could be used to precisely detect whether a gloved finger is touched, or the magnitude of pressure applied to the electrode surface, maintaining high sensitivity even in the stretched state.