Stretchable Electroluminescent Display Enabled by Graphene-Based Hybrid Electrode

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces Vol. 11; no. 15; pp. 14222 - 14228
• Main Authors: Shin, Heechang, Sharma, Bhupendra K, Lee, Seung Won, Lee, Jae-Bok, Choi, Minwoo, Hu, Luhing, Park, Cheolmin, Choi, Jin Hwan, Kim, Tae Woong, Ahn, Jong-Hyun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 17.04.2019
• Subjects: silver nanowires; stretchable display; stretchable electrode; alternating-current electroluminescence device; graphene; ZnS; PEDOT:PSS
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.8b22135

Stretchable alternating-current electroluminescent (ACEL) devices are required due to their potential in wearable, biomedical, e-skin, robotic, lighting, and display applications; however, one of the main hurdles is to achieve uniform electroluminescence with an optimal combination of transparency, conductivity, and stretchability in electrodes. We therefore propose a fabrication scheme involving strategically combining two-dimensional graphene layers with a silver nanowire (Ag NW)-embedded PEDOT:PSS film. The developed hybrid electrode overcomes the limitations of commonly known metallic NWs and ionic conductor-based electrodes for ACEL applications. Furthermore, the potential of the hybrid electrode is realized in demonstrating large-area stretchable ACEL devices composed of an 8 × 8 passive array. The prototype ACEL passive array demonstrates efficient and uniform electroluminescence under high levels of mechanical deformation such as bending, rolling, twisting, and stretching.