Electromechanical properties of indium-tin-oxide/poly(3,4- ethylenedioxythiophene): Poly(styrenesulfonate) hybrid electrodes for flexible transparent electrodes

  • Sunghoon Jung
  • , Kyounga Lim
  • , Jae Wook Kang
  • , Jong Kuk Kim
  • , Se In Oh
  • , Kyoungtae Eun
  • , Do Geun Kim
  • , Sung Hoon Choa

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

We investigated an indium-tin-oxide (ITO)/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) hybrid electrode as a potential flexible and transparent electrode. In particular, the mechanical integrity of an ITO/PEDOT:PSS hybrid electrode deposited onto a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate was investigated via outer/inner bending, twisting, stretching, and adhesion tests. A PEDOT:PSS layer was inserted between ITO and PET substrate as a buffer layer to improve the flexibility and electrical properties. When a PEDOT:PSS layer was inserted, the sheet resistance of the 20 nm-thick ITO film decreased from 270 Ω/square to 57 Ω/square. Notably, the ITO/PEDOT:PSS hybrid electrode had a constant resistance change (ΔR/R 0) within an outer and inner bending radius of 3 mm. The bending fatigue test showed that the ITO/PEDOT:PSS hybrid electrode can withstand 10,000 bending cycles. Furthermore, the stretched ITO/PEDOT:PSS hybrid electrode showed a fairly constant resistance change up to 4%, which is more stable than the resistance change of the ITO electrode. The ITO/PEDOT:PSS electrode also shows good adhesion strength. The superior flexibility of the ITO/PEDOT:PSS hybrid electrode is attributed to the existence of a flexible PEDOT:PSS layer. This indicates that the hybridization of an ITO and PEDOT:PSS layer is a promising electrode scheme for next-generation flexible transparent electrodes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)435-443
Number of pages9
JournalThin Solid Films
Volume550
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2014

Keywords

  • Electromechanical properties
  • ITO/PEDOT:PSS hybrid electrode
  • Transparent flexible electrode

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