We propose a versatile yet practical transferring technique to fabricate a high performance and extremely stable silver nanowire (AgNW) transparent electrode on arbitrary substrates. Hydroxylated poly(ethylene glycol) terephthalate (PET) or poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) deposited with AgNWs was selectively decorated to lower its polar surface energy, so that the AgNWs were easily and efficiently transferred into an epoxy resin (EPR) as a freestanding film (AgNWs-EPR) or onto various substrates. The AgNWs-EPR capped with alkanethiolate monolayers exhibits high conductivity, low roughness, ultraflexibility, and strong corrosion resistance. Using the transferring process, AgNWs-EPR was successfully constructed on rough, adhesive, flimsy, or complex curved substrates, including PET, thin optically clear adhesive, papers, a beaker, convex spherical PDMS, and leaves. A flexible touch panel enabling multitouch and a curved transparent heater on a beaker were first fabricated by using the composite film. These demonstrations suggest that the proposed technique for AgNWs is a promising strategy toward the next generation of flexible/portable/wearable electronics.
Keywords: alkanethiolate; corrosion resistance; curved substrates; embedded silver nanowire; transfer.