Rapid fabrication of high-performance transparent electrodes by electrospinning of reactive silver ink containing nanofibers

Abstract

All-solution processable fabrication of high performance transparent conductive electrodes is vital for next-generation optoelectronics applications. In this study, rapid and versatile fabrication of high-performance transparent electrodes by synergetic integration of electrospun nanofibers and particle-free reactive silver inks is reported. Direct electrospinning of reactive silver ink containing polymer blend solution followed by a swift thermal annealing enables fabrication of transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs) with a sheet resistance of ∼1.9 Ω/sq with 90% transmission. The high-performance TCEs were fabricated within couple of minutes including the electrospinning and thermal annealing duration. The key aspects of our strategy are the use of a polymer blend consisting of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and particle-free nature of reactive silver inks. Practical utility of the fabricated transparent electrodes in Joule heaters that work at temperatures as high as 300 °C is presented. The simple, versatile, inexpensive, and rapid fabrication of transparent conductive electrodes can enable broad range of applications.