Anti-corrosion peptide coatings and laser patterning for application on flexible transparent silver nanowire electrodes

This work describes physicochemical processing strategies to allow the efficient use of oligoglycine-based coatings for corrosion protection of transparent silver nanowire (AgNW) electrodes fabricated on flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates. The peptide anti-corrosion coatings consist of two-dimensional amino-terminated oligoglycine peptide assemblies, denoted as tectomers. Tectomer sheets are hydrophobic in nature and act as moisture barrier and protective layer preventing oxidation and degradation of the nanowires when exposed to atmospheric conditions. Moreover, tectomer coatings markedly decrease the AgNW electrode sheet resistance (Rs) by mechanical squeezing of wire-to-wire junctions in the network. Enhanced adhesion of the tectomer coatings to PET was achieved by a simple hydrolysis process that generates carboxyl and hydroxyl groups on the plastic substrate, enabling a strong interaction with the amino groups on the tectomer surface. Rs values as low as 29.3 Omega/sq with 94.4 % T were achieved for tectomer-coated AgNW electrodes, which are competitive with commercially available AgNW and ITO electrodes. Finally, peptide-coated AgNW networks on PET substrates were efficiently patterned by a one-step laser ablation process without damaging the substrate, offering promise for their use as components in flexible optoelectronics and touchscreen technologies.