Fabrication And Utilization Of Patterned Conductive Arrays Through The Induction Of Super-Wetting Interfaces

As demand surges for portable and wearable electronic gadgets in contemporary life,optoelectronic devices must offer mechanical flexibility alongside their inherent conductive and transparent attributes.While the field of conductive materials has matured,offering materials with both high electrical conductivity and unique characteristics,these materials often come with drawbacks—they are typically opaque and rigid.To fully exploit the diverse functionalities of these conductive materials in next-generation optoelectronic applications,patterning becomes a crucial,nonnegotiable step.This patterning process not only augments the proportion of blank areas,thereby elevating the level of transparency,but can also facilitate a transformation from opacity to transparency.Additionally,such innovative structural designs contribute to enhancing the material’s flexibility.However,achieving high precision,cost-efficiency,and scalability are still the pressing challenges in the field of conductive material patterning.In this paper,we introduce a universal wettinginduced self-assembly approach aimed at achieving high-precision,low-cost,and large-scale patterning of conductive materials for diverse applications.The assembly system induced by infiltrative wetting consists of three key components: a globally superhydrophobic silicon micro-pillar array template with hydrophilic tops,a dispersing liquid,and a hydrophilic target substrate.The superhydrophobic silicon micro-pillar template,along with the air between the pillars,supports the dispersing liquid to create a liquid film.As water evaporates from the liquid film,it gradually splits,and the hydrophilic tops of the silicon micro-pillars anchor the split capillary liquid bridges,forming assembly confinement.Within the progressively narrowing liquid bridge spaces,conductive materials in the dispersing liquid achieve precise patterned assembly.The primary research contributions of this paper are as follows:1.A highly ordered one-dimensional array of silver nanoparticles and large-area sub-micron-width silver nanoparticle grids were prepared using a method based on differential wetting induction.The height and width of the assembled silver nanoparticle structures can be precisely controlled within the ranges of 40 to 800 nm and 40 to 2400 nm,respectively.The densely packed silver nanoparticle lines exhibit excellent electrical conductivity,with a current of 9.1 μA observed for a silver nanoparticle line with an 800 nm width under a 5 V voltage.This is significantly higher than the 2.9 μA current observed for the disordered distribution of silver nanoparticles.2.A thin layer of polyelectrolyte liquid was applied to encapsulate the silver nanoparticle grid,significantly enhancing the mechanical and chemical stability of the composite electrode.Moreover,the electrical conductivity and transparency of the composite electrode showed minimal decline.In comparison to the mechanical performance of commercial ITO electrodes,the flexibility of the silver nanoparticle grid@polyelectrolyte liquid composite electrode we developed is superior,holding great promise for widespread applications in the next generation of electronic devices.The chemical stability of the silver nanoparticle grid@polyelectrolyte liquid composite electrode was tested,confirming its stability in various real-world application environments.We achieved outstanding performance(sheet resistance of 24.6 Ω·sq-1,transparency of 99%,FOM value exceeding 1000)for the flexible transparent electrode composed of silver nanoparticle grids coated with a polyelectrolyte liquid.This electrode was successfully applied in a flexible handwriting screen.3.The method of differentially induced wetting self-assembly,initially applied to pattern inorganic nanoparticles,has been extended to the organic conductive polymer PEDOT:PSS.Large-area and size-controllable PEDOT:PSS nanowire arrays were fabricated.Electrical conductivity was enhanced through physical annealing and chemical doping,resulting in a resistivity of 1.06×10-6 Ω·m for the PEDOT:PSS nanowires as measured by a probe station.Subsequently,large-area PEDOT:PSS nanogrids were prepared.Leveraging the flexible and transparent nature of the PEDOT:PSS nanogrids,smart dimmable glass was developed.In the powered state,it achieved a transmittance of approximately 80%,demonstrating stable cyclic use with a response time of only 0.2~0.3 seconds.