Screen-Printed Fabrication of PEDOT:PSS/Silver Nanowire Composite Films for Transparent Heaters

• Published in: Materials Vol. 10; no. 3; p. 220
• Main Authors: He, Xin, He, Ruihui, Lan, Qiuming, Wu, Weijie, Duan, Feng, Xiao, Jundong, Zhang, Mei, Zeng, Qingguang, Wu, Jianhao, Liu, Junyan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 23.02.2017; MDPI
• Subjects: Adhesive strength; Hybrid structures; Nanowires; Room temperature; Screen printing; Silver; Substrates; Temperature; Thermal response; Transmittance; transparent heater; screen printing; conductive film
• ISSN: 1996-1944; 1996-1944
• DOI: 10.3390/ma10030220

A transparent and flexible film heater was fabricated; based on a hybrid structure of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and silver nanowires (Ag NWs) using a screen printing; which is a scalable production technology. The resulting film integrates the advantages of the two conductive materials; easy film-forming and strong adhesion to the substrate of the polymer PEDOT:PSS; and high conductivity of the Ag NWs. The fabricated composite films with different NW densities exhibited the transmittance within the range from 82.3% to 74.1% at 550 nm. By applying 40 V potential on the films; a stable temperature from 49 °C to 99 °C was generated within 30 s to 50 s. However; the surface temperature of the pristine PEDOT:PSS film did not increase compared to the room temperature. The composite film with the transmittance of 74.1% could be heated to the temperatures from 41 °C to 99 °C at the driven voltages from 15 V to 40 V; indicating that the film heater exhibited uniform heating and rapid thermal response. Therefore; the PEDOT:PSS/Ag NW composite film is a promising candidate for the application of the transparent and large-scale film heaters.