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Fabrication of Transparent Conductive Film with Flexible Silver Nanowires Using Roll‐to‐Roll Slot‐Die Coating and Calendering and Its Application to Resistive Touch Panel
Author(s) -
Jeong Hakyung,
Park Sungsik,
Lee Jongsu,
Won Philip,
Ko SeungHwan,
Lee Dongjin
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
advanced electronic materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.25
H-Index - 56
ISSN - 2199-160X
DOI - 10.1002/aelm.201800243
Subject(s) - materials science , calendering , roll to roll processing , coating , composite material , die (integrated circuit) , fabrication , layer (electronics) , resistive touchscreen , electrical conductor , polyethylene terephthalate , nanotechnology , medicine , alternative medicine , engineering , pathology , electrical engineering
Abstract A transparent conductive film incorporating silver nanowires (AgNW TCF) is fabricated through roll‐to‐roll (R2R) slot‐die coating and a subsequent calendering process and applied to a resistive touch panel. To produce a uniform AgNW film on a flexible polyethylene terephthalate substrate, the R2R slot‐die coating is optimized in terms of the solvent, concentration, and flow rate of the AgNW solution, and the length of the AgNWs synthesized using a polyol method. The coated AgNW TCF is calendered between two rolls to produce percolation paths in the film. During the calendering, the roll temperature, applied pressure, and web speed are optimized to yield a low sheet resistance of 28 Ω sq −1 with a transmittance of 86% at 550 nm. To demonstrate the functionality of the AgNW TCF, a coating of SiO 2 microspheres is also applied to form a spacer layer, again using R2R slot‐die coating. A resistive touch panel is thus successfully implemented. The effect of the calendering process is confirmed by observing the operation of the touch panel, which is found to be more sensitive and accurate. The integrated manufacturing process for producing an AgNW TCF, presented herein, can be applied to many other major fields.