Sol–Gel-Processed Organic–Inorganic Hybrid for Flexible Conductive Substrates Based on Gravure-Printed Silver Nanowires and Graphene

Abstract

In this study, an organic–inorganic (O–I) nanohybrid obtained by incorporating an alkoxysilane-functionalized amphiphilic polymer precursor into a SiO2–TiO2 hybrid network was successfully utilized as a buffer layer to fabricate a flexible, transparent, and stable conductive substrate for solution-processed silver nanowires (AgNWs) and graphene under ambient conditions. The resulting O–I nanohybrid sol (denoted as AGPTi) provided a transmittance of the spin-coated AgNWs on an AGPTi-coated glass of 99.4% and high adhesion strength after a 3M tape test, with no visible changes in the AgNWs. In addition, AGPTi acted as a highly functional buffer layer, absorbing the applied pressure between the conductive materials, AgNWs and graphene, and rigid substrate, leading to a significant reduction in sheet resistance. Furthermore, gravure-printed AgNWs and graphene on the AGPTi-based flexible substrate had uniform line widths of 490 ± 15 and 470 ± 12 µm, with 1000-cycle bending durabilities, respectively.

Keywords

• conductive substrate
• gravure printing
• flexible electronics
• and nanomaterials