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Performance enhancement of large-area graphene–polymer flexible transparent conductive films fabricated by ultrasonic substrate vibration-assisted rod coating

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Abstract

The graphene/PEDOT:PSS composite thin films (GCFs) are promising candidates for transparent conductive electrodes in low-cost flexible thin-film devices, which can be applied in portable and flexible electronic devices such as organic light-emitting diodes and organic solar cells. In this work, to improve the film characteristics, we impose ultrasonic vibration on the substrate, and therefore the wet coating, during the rod-coating preparation process of the GCFs, and study the effect of vibration power. The 5 × 5 cm2 thin films prepared on flexible polyethylene terephthalate with ultrasonic vibration imposed on the substrate of wet films demonstrate improved conductivity and reduced thickness. Ninefold enhancement in charge carrier concentration is observed when ultrasonic vibration is applied. The improved performance is ascribed to the eliminated pores in films, and rearrangement of graphene in the polymer network, brought about by nanometer-scale-amplitude ultrasonic vibrations. The electrical property of flexible films is demonstrated to be stable after multiple cycles of bending.

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Acknowledgments

The experimental work was conducted entirely by undergraduate students within the framework of an Innovation Practice Program at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The financial support from SAPO, Shanghai Sailing Program (No. 16YF1406200), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC No. 51802193) are gratefully acknowledged. Authors thank Jiawen Shi and Shiwei Chen for assistance with preliminary sample preparation, and Dominikus Brian for assistance with viscosity measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Michigan - Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Zhe Li, Xinyu Zhang, Long Shen, Zhijun Fan, Morteza Eslamian & Qianli Chen

  2. Shenzhen SAPO Photoelectric Co., Ltd, Shenzhen, 518108, China

    Xuewen Chen, Min Chen & Shaohua Qiu

  3. State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China

    Fatemeh Zabihi

  4. Shanghai “Belt & Road” International Allied Laboratory of Advanced Fibers and Low-dimensional Materials, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China

    Fatemeh Zabihi

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  1. Zhe Li
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  2. Xinyu Zhang
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  3. Long Shen
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Li, Z., Zhang, X., Shen, L. et al. Performance enhancement of large-area graphene–polymer flexible transparent conductive films fabricated by ultrasonic substrate vibration-assisted rod coating. J Coat Technol Res 16, 1773–1780 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11998-019-00265-8

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