Polymeric web-assisted patterning of transparent flexible electrodes

This study addresses the increasing need for advancements in transparent flexible electrodes (TFEs) to facilitate the development of faster and more complex next-generation optoelectronic devices. While tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) is commonly used due to its high luminous transmittance (<i>T</i>_{<i>l</i><i>u</i><i>m</i>}) and low resistivity (<i>ρ</i>), its brittleness restricts its application as a flexible conductor. Using low-cost polymer random masks for nanopatterning can enhance optical transparency without compromising conductivity. Two promising electrospinning-based masking approaches, namely nanotroughs and nanolines, have been identified and compared in terms of their fabrication practicality and electrode performance. The resulting Ag-based TFEs were produced with the use of magnetron sputtering, exhibit high <i>T</i>_{<i>l</i><i>u</i><i>m</i>} (>80<i>%</i>) and low sheet resistance (<i>R</i>_S<50<i>Ω</i><i>◻</i>^-1), and are compatible with flexible substrates, while showing high resistance to bending in comparison to a standard ITO electrode. With these findings, we demonstrate that electrospun polymeric masks can provide a scalable alternative for next-generation TFEs.