Polymer composites with nanomaterials such as graphene nanoplatelets and carbon nanotubes are a new group of materials with high application possibilities in printed and flexible electronics. In this study such carbon nanomaterials were used as a conductive phase in polymer composites. Pastes with dispersed nanomaterials in PMMA and PVDF vehicles were screen printed on flexible substrates, and used as an active layer in pressure sensors, exploiting contact resistance phenomena. The relationship between resistance and pressure is nearly linear on a logarithmic scale for selected types of samples, and their response is several times higher than for similar sensors with graphite layers. The use of surfactants allowed us to fabricate evenly dispersed nanomaterials with different amount of nanoplatelets and nanotubes in the composites. The samples contained from 1.25 wt.% to 2 wt.% of graphene and 1 wt.% to 0.5 wt.% of nanotubes and exhibited diverse sheet resistivity. Experiments revealed the relationship between morphology and loading of functional phase in the polymer matrix and the sensors' sensitivity.

Purpose – New types of substrates were used for fabrication of printed electroluminescent structures. Polymer foils mainly used as substrates for such optoelectronic elements were replaced with paper and textiles. Printing on non-transparent substrate requires elaboration of printed transparent electrode, while usually polyester foils with sputtered ITO transparent electrodes are used. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Electroluminescent structures were fabricated with elaborated polymer compositions filled with nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes and graphene platelets, dielectric and luminophore nanopowders. Structures were printed as “reverse stack”, where transparent electrode is printed on top of the last luminophore layer. For that carbon nanotubes and graphene platelets filled composition was used, deposited with spray-coating technique. Findings – Main issue with new substrates is proper wetting with the use of screen-printing pastes, and much higher roughness especially for textiles. Originality/value – Fully functional structures were obtained, but several disadvantages were observed that needs to be eliminated in further studies.

The paper describes the investigations of pH-sensitive materials for screen printed flexible pH sensors. The sensors were fully printed and consisted of three layers, conductive made of low temperature-curable silver paste, insulating made of UV-curable dielectric paste, and pH-sensitive made of developed graphene/ruthenium oxide pastes. Graphene and ruthenium oxide composites were prepared with different proportions of graphene nanoplatelets paste and submicron ruthenium dioxide. To perform functional measurements, particular testing sensors were fabricated on flexible polyester foil. Afterwards electrochemical potential measurements of fabricated devices were carried out. Sensors were also exposed to cyclic bending and the change of pH sensitivity before and after bending was described. Eventually, percolation threshold concerning the amount of ruthenium oxide in the pH-sensitive layer was designated and UV influence on the sensitivity was observed that together allow for optimization of sensors’ fabrication costs.

The paper presents inuence of diverse shapes and dimensions of carbon nanostructures on physical properties of polymer composites. Graphene nanoplatelets, carbon nanotubes, graphite nanobers, and graphite microakes have been investigated as llers in polymethacrylate resin. Layers were deposited with printing techniques used in printed electronics technology such as screen printing and spray coating, both elaborated in our earlier works. Different sets of measurements have been performed for obtained layers with particular carbon nanollers. Thickness and topography have been examined using optical prolometer. Morphology of nanostructures has been observed with scanning electron microscope. Moreover, sheet resistivity and optical transmission in visible wavelength have been measured. Also mechanical properties have been characterized for each polymer composite by conducting fatigue test which consisted of multiple bending cycles.

Composite transparent electrodes based on carbon nanostructures such as multiwalled carbon nanotubes and graphene platelets were spray coated onto glass substrates and characterized by spectrophotometry and spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements. The dispersion relations of the ellipsometric angle rate, i.e. W and D versus wavelength k were measured in spectral range from 190 to 1700 nm. On the basis of these results, it was possible to estimate the value of the refractive index and extinction coefficient. Effective medium approximation model was chosen to calculate the optical constants of a mixed material. The average surface roughness and the average thickness of spray coated transparent resistive layers were also determined. The materials have a heterogeneous structure as confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and optical measurements (changes of depolarisation). From the Tauc plot it was possible to determine the energy gap. The influence of the coating process and the paint preparation on the optical properties was observed.

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We report here on printed electroluminescent structures containing transparent electrodes made of carbon nanotubes and graphene nanoplatelets. Screen-printing and spray-coating techniques were employed. Electrodes and structures were examined towards optical parameters using spectrophotometer and irradiation meter. Electromechanical properties of transparent electrodes are exterminated with cyclical bending test. Accelerated aging process was conducted according to EN 62137 standard for reliability tests of electronics. We observed significant negative influence of mechanical bending on sheet resistivity of ITO, while resistivity of nanotube and graphene based electrodes remained stable. Aging process has also negative influence on ITO based structures resulting in delamination of printed layers, while those based on carbon nanomaterials remained intact. We observe negligible changes in irradiation for structures with carbon nanotube electrodes after accelerated aging process. Such materials demonstrate a high application potential in general purpose electroluminescent devices.

Flexible and transparent electrodes were fabricated with spray coating technique from paints based on multiwalled carbon nanotubes with the addition of graphene platelets. The work presents the influence of graphene platelets on the paints rheology and layers morphology, which has a strong connection to the electrooptical parameters of the electrodes. The paints rheology affects the atomization during spray coating and later the leveling of the coating on the substrate. Both technological aspects shape the morphology of the electrode and the distribution of nanoparticles in the coating. All these factors influence the sheet resistance and roughness, which is linked to the optical transmission and absorbance. In our research the electrode was applied as a transparent and elastic heating element with 68% optical transmission at 550 nm wavelength and 8.4 kΩ/□ sheet resistance. The elastic heating element was tested with a thermal camera at the 3 diverse supply voltages −20, 30, and 60 VDC. The test successfully confirmed and supported our proposed uses of elaborated electrodes.