Deformation behavior of the Ag nanowire flexible transparent electrode under bending strain is studied and results in a novel approach for highly reliable Ag nanowire network with mechanically welded junctions. Bending fatigue tests up to 500,000 cycles are used to evaluate the in situ resistance change while imposing fixed, uniform bending strain. In the initial stages of bending cycles, the thermally annealed Ag nanowire networks show a reduction in fractional resistance followed by a transient and steady-state increase at later stages of cycling. SEM analysis reveals that the initial reduction in resistance is caused by mechanical welding as a result of applied bending strain, and the increase in resistance at later stages of cycling is determined to be due to the failure at the thermally locked-in junctions. Based on the observations from this study, a new methodology for highly reliable Ag nanowire network is proposed: formation of Ag nanowire networks with no prior thermal annealing but localized junction formation through simple application of mechanical bending strain. The non-annealed, mechanically welded Ag nanowire network shows significantly enhanced cyclic reliability with essentially 0% increase in resistance due to effective formation of localized wire-to-wire contact.

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Design and fabrication of reliable electrodes is one of the most important challenges in flexible devices, which undergo repeated deformation. In conventional approaches, mechanical and electrical properties of continuous metal films degrade gradually because of the fatigue damage. The designed incorporation of nanoholes into Cu electrodes can enhance the reliability. In this study, the electrode shows extremely low electrical resistance change during bending fatigue because the nanoholes suppress crack initiation by preventing protrusion formation and damage propagation by crack tip blunting. This concept provides a key guideline for developing fatigue-free flexible electrodes.