Advanced
transparent conductors have been studied intensively in
the aspects of materials, structures, and printing methods. The material
and structural advancements have been successfully accomplished with
various conductive nanomaterials and spring-like structures for better
electrical conductivity and high mechanical flexibility of the transparent
conductors. However, the capability to print submicrometer conductive
patterns directly and conformally on curved surfaces with low processing
cost and high throughput remains a technological challenge to achieve,
primarily because of the original two-dimensional (2D) nature of conventional
lithography processes. In our study, we exploit a liquid-mediated
patterning approach in the development of flexible templates, enabling
printing of curvilinear silver grids in a single-step and strain-free
manner at a submicrometer resolution within several minutes with minimum
loss of noble metals. The template can guide arrays of receding liquid–air
interfaces on curved substrates during liquid evaporation, thereby
generating ordered 2D foam structures that can confine and assemble
silver nanoparticles in grid patterns. The printed silver grids exhibit
suitable optical, electrical, and Joule-heating performances, enabling
their application in transparent heaters. Our technique has the potential
to extend the existing 2D micro/nanofluidic liquid-mediated patterning
approach to three-dimensional (3D) control of liquid–air interfaces
for low-cost all-liquid-processed functional 3D optoelectronics in
the future.
Next-generation electronic devices require electrically conductive, mechanically flexible, and optically transparent conducting electrodes (CEs) that can endure large deformations.
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