Large‐Area Flexible Thin Film Encapsulation with High Barrier and Super‐Hydrophobic Property

Abstract

With the development of optoelectronic devices toward miniaturization, flexibility, and large-scale integration, conventional submillimeter rigid encapsulation techniques rarely achieve conformational functionality while blocking water and oxygen. At the same time, the sensitivity of electronic devices with organic/metal/semiconductor components to humidity and oxygen severely impairs their operational stability and lifetime. Here, a nanometer to micrometer scale organic/inorganic hybrid thin film encapsulation (TFE) with the self-cleaning ability for flexible encapsulation is developed. The water vapor transmittance rate of polyethylene terephthalate substrate coated with the TFE is as low as 1.65 × 10 −4 g m −2 day −1 , and the barrier improvement factor reaches 10 4 at 38 °C and 90% relative humidity. This value is equivalent to 9.81 × 10 −6 g m −2 day −1 at ambient conditions, sufficient to improve the lifetime of water-sensitive electronic devices. Meanwhile, this TFE shows a super-hydrophobic performance, with a water contact angle of 168.4°. In addition, the resulting barrier films exhibit outstanding optical properties, with an average optical transmittance of 86.88% in the visible region. This versatile TFE can promote the development of optoelectronic devices toward miniaturization and large-scale integration in the future.