Preparation and Characterization of Conductive Cellulose Films
J. Köhler
Institute of Solid State Physics, Graz University of Technology
15:00 - 17:00 Monday 28 September 2015 Foyer Alte Technik Cellulose is one of the most common polymers in nature and therefore a very attractive candidate as transparent electrode/substrate material in organic electronics. At present indium tin oxide
(ITO)-coated glass or plastic substrates are commonly used as transparent conductive electrode. Their high transparency and conductivity offer perfect properties for use in optoelectronic devices, like solar cells. But these systems have disadvantages. Glass is very stable and recyclable, but rigid. Plastics, on the other hand, are flexible and light weight, but environmentally critical. Finally, the conducting component ITO has high production costs due to limited indium resources and expensive deposition techniques. There is a need for alternatives. For these reasons cellulose comes into one’s mind. Cellulose provides flexibility, stability, bio-compatibility at low costs and offers the possibility of the production of transparent films. But what about the lack of conductivity? Here, an approach towards conductive cellulose films by integration of silver nanowire networks into thin films of regenerated cellulose is presented.
Trimethylsilyl cellulose (short: TSMC) was used as cellulose precursor and mixed with a variety of concentrations of silver nanowires (short: Ag-NW). Thin films were fabricated via spin-coating and subsequent acidic hydrolysis for regeneration.
The films were investigated regarding their optical properties, morphology, distribution of nanowires and electrical characteristics.
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Institute of Solid State Physics
