Department of Physics and TcSUH, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204, USA.
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
Nat Commun. 2014;5:3121. doi: 10.1038/ncomms4121.
Foldable photoelectronics and muscle-like transducers require highly stretchable and transparent electrical conductors. Some conducting oxides are transparent, but not stretchable. Carbon nanotube films, graphene sheets and metal-nanowire meshes can be both stretchable and transparent, but their electrical resistances increase steeply with strain <100%. Here we present highly stretchable and transparent Au nanomesh electrodes on elastomers made by grain boundary lithography. The change in sheet resistance of Au nanomeshes is modest with a one-time strain of ~160% (from ~21 Ω per square to ~67 Ω per square), or after 1,000 cycles at a strain of 50%. The good stretchability lies in two aspects: the stretched nanomesh undergoes instability and deflects out-of-plane, while the substrate stabilizes the rupture of Au wires, forming distributed slits. Larger ratio of mesh-size to wire-width also leads to better stretchability. The highly stretchable and transparent Au nanomesh electrodes are promising for applications in foldable photoelectronics and muscle-like transducers.
可折叠光电设备和类肌肉式换能器需要高度可拉伸和透明的导电体。一些导电氧化物是透明的，但不可拉伸。碳纳米管薄膜、石墨烯片和金属纳米线网既具有可拉伸性又具有透明性，但它们的电阻随应变<100%急剧增加。在这里，我们通过晶界光刻在弹性体上展示了高度可拉伸和透明的 Au 纳米网电极。Au 纳米网的薄层电阻变化适中，单次应变约为 160%（从约 21 Ω/平方到约 67 Ω/平方），或者在 50%应变下循环 1000 次后。良好的可拉伸性体现在两个方面：拉伸的纳米网会发生不稳定性并偏离平面，而基底会稳定 Au 线的断裂，形成分布式狭缝。更大的网孔尺寸与线宽的比例也会导致更好的可拉伸性。高度可拉伸和透明的 Au 纳米网电极有望应用于可折叠光电设备和类肌肉式换能器。
