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. 2018 Apr 19;8(27):14864-14869.
doi: 10.1039/c7ra11966f. eCollection 2018 Apr 18.

Fabrication of air-stable, transparent Cu grid electrodes by etching through a PVA-based protecting layer patterned using a screen mesh

H Tokuhisa  1 , S Tsukamoto  1 , T Nobeshima  1 , N Yamamoto  1
Affiliations

Fabrication of air-stable, transparent Cu grid electrodes by etching through a PVA-based protecting layer patterned using a screen mesh

H Tokuhisa et al. RSC Adv. .

Abstract

As an alternative to conventional indium-tin-oxide (ITO) electrodes, a transparent Cu grid electrode was fabricated by etching a sputtered Cu on a flexible polyethylene naphthalate film through a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based protecting layer. The masking pattern of the PVA-based polymer on the Cu was generated by evaporation of an aqueous solution containing PVA-based polymers using a screen mesh as a template. The solution formed a stable liquid-bridge network between contact points of the screen mesh and the substrate after being dropped onto the mesh placed on the substrate. Drying of the solution yielded grid or dotted patterns, depending on the concentration of PVA. Etching of the Cu film covered with the PVA pattern was done with a FeCl3 methanolic solution to form a grid-patterned Cu electrode. Although some underetching was observed, adjusting the etching time gave a fine line network of Cu with the PVA coated thoroughly. The Cu grid electrode showed a transparency of 87.2 ± 5.2% at 550 nm and 6.1 ± 5.3 Ω □-1, which is comparable to or greater than that of the conventional ITO. Furthermore, we found that the PVA coating barrier significantly enhanced the oxidation resistance of the Cu grid electrode.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Optical microscopy images of PVA-based polymers on a glass fabricated through a screen mesh using aqueous solutions containing different concentrations of PVA: (a) 0.5 wt%, (b) 0.05 wt%, and (c) 0.005 wt%.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Schematic viewgraphs of a possible mechanism for the PVA pattern formation through a screen mesh.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Optical microscopy images of PVA-based polymers on Cu sputtered PEN film fabricated through a screen mesh using aqueous solutions containing 0.5 wt% of PVA, (a) without and (b) with the Cu surface cleaning.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. SEM images of sputtered Cu surfaces before (a–c) and after (d–f) etched using a 0.01 M FeCl3 methanolic solution.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5. Cross-sectional SEM images of Cu on PEN after (a) 0 min, (b) 3 min, and (c) 6 min etching.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6. Sheet resistance changes for grid Cu electrodes with (○) and without (△) PVA upon heating at 150 °C in the atmosphere as a function of time.
Fig. 7
Fig. 7. Capacitance changes of the sensor made of grid Cu electrodes as a function of applied pressure.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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