Semi-curing combined with low-pressure mechanical pressing strategy for realizing high adhesion and low surface roughness Ag-NW transparent electrodes

Abstract

Silver nanowire (Ag-NW) transparent electrodes have emerged as a promising next-generation transparent electrode. However, Ag-NW transparent electrodes suffer from poor adhesion and high surface roughness, limiting their practical application and commercialization. Here, we propose a strategy that combines semi-curing with low-pressure mechanical pressing to produce Ag-NW transparent electrodes with enhanced adhesion and reduced surface roughness. Specifically, the Ag-NWs are embedded into a 15 μm-thick semi-cured PDMS adhesive layer, which lacks fluidity but retains intrinsic bonding properties. The lack of fluidity in the semi-cured PDMS layer reduces the likelihood of PDMS entering the NW–NW gap during the embedding process. As a result, compared to the conventional embedding strategy, our approach not only enhances adhesion between the Ag-NWs and the substrate but also imparts excellent optoelectronic properties to the Ag-NW transparent electrode (T = 90%, R_s = 51.5 ohm sq⁻¹). After embedding the Ag-NWs into the semi-cured PDMS adhesive layer, followed by low-pressure pressing (P < 1500 Pa) and complete curing, the Ag-NW transparent electrode with a scratch resistance greater than 6 N and a surface roughness as low as 29.5 nm was obtained.