Uniform metal nanomesh structures are promising candidates that may replace of indium-tin oxide (ITO) in transparent conducting electrodes (TCEs). However, the durability of the uniform metal mesh has not yet been studied. For this reason, a comparative analysis of the durability of TCEs based on pure Ag and AgNi nanomesh, which are fabricated by using simple transfer printing, is performed. The AgNi nanomesh shows high long-term stability to oxidation, heat, and chemicals compared with that of pure Ag nanomesh. This is because of nickel in the AgNi nanomesh. Furthermore, the AgNi nanomesh shows strong adhesion to a transparent substrate and good stability after repeated bending.
In this report, we describe the fabrication of periodic Ag nanogrid electrodes by capillary assembly of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) along patterned nanogrid templates. By assembling the AgNPs into these high-aspect-ratio nanogrid patterns, we can obtain high-aspect-ratio nanogratings, which can overcome the inherent trade-off between the optical transmittance and the sheet resistance of transparent electrodes. The junction resistance between the AgNPs is effectively reduced by photochemical welding and post-annealing. The fabricated high-aspect-ratio nanogrid structure with a line width of 150 nm and a height of 450 nm has a sheet resistance of 15.2 Ω sq(-1) and an optical transmittance of 85.4%.
An efficient platform capable of cell adhesion needs to be developed to understand cell activities such as cell differentiation, diffusion, and migration. The basic sequence of cell adhesion involves cells communicating with their environment by generating mechanical and chemical signals. Thin polymeric films with micro- or nano-patterns are widely used to support cell growth with conformal contact at the biointerface. However, stable and biocompatible films with high reproducibility on a flexible substrate remain a challenge. As described here, we developed micro-pattern poly(tetrafluoroethyleneco-perfluoro-3,6-dioxa-4-methyl-7-octenesulfonic acid) (Nafion) films fabricated by a molding process. We present the fabrication and characterization of flexible, micro-patterned Nafion films and the evaluation of cell adhesion and alignment on these films. We found that cell adhesion and migration/direction could be modulated by controlling the surface architecture. This approach offers a new platform that constitutes a promising tool for use in flexible cell-based platforms and devices to observe cell-cell and cell-surface interactions.
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