A method of forming an oriented mesh

Abstract

A method of forming an oriented mesh There is provided a method of forming an oriented mesh, the method comprising: forming a template layer comprising oriented crack trenches on a surface of a first substrate; filling the oriented crack trenches with a material; and separating the template layer from the surface of the first substrate to obtain the oriented mesh. There is also provided a oriented mesh formed from the method.

Description

[0001] A method of forming an oriented mesh

[0002] Technical Field

[0003] The present invention relates to a method of forming an oriented mesh, and an oriented mesh formed therefrom.

[0004] Background

[0005] There is an increasing need for stretchable transparent electrodes (STEs), particularly in stretchable electronic devices such as, but not limited to, electronic skins, wearable displays, sensors, photovoltaic devices, heat sheets, and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. An STE typically consists of a stretchable transparent layer of conducting elements on a stretchable substrate. However, there is a challenge in fabricating STEs that simultaneously achieve high transparency, stretchability, and conductivity.

[0006] Conductive meshes, particularly metal meshes, are promising for constructing STEs due to their potential for high conductivity and transmittance. However, fabricating metal meshes at a large scale with desirable mesh size and surface smoothness remains challenging. Nanofabrication techniques like photolithography and the use of expensive templates and molds have been employed, but these methods are impractical for scaling up due to their complexity and high cost. High-resolution printing methods have also been adopted for metal mesh fabrication, but such methods struggle to achieve mesh wire sizes below 5 jim. Self-assembling or self-cracking templates have also not been successful as the resulting meshes demonstrate poor stretchability.

[0007] There is therefore a need for an improved method of forming conductive mesh-based STEs.

[0008] Summary of the invention

[0009] The present invention seeks to address these problems, and / or to provide an improved method of forming an oriented mesh.

[0010] According to a first aspect, there is provided a method of forming an oriented mesh, the method comprising:

[0011] forming a template layer comprising oriented crack trenches on a surface of a first substrate;filling the oriented crack trenches with a material; and separating the template layer from the surface of the first substrate to obtain the oriented mesh.

[0012] According to a particular aspect, the forming a template layer may be by any suitable method. For example, the forming a template layer may comprise:

[0013] applying a template coating on the surface of the first substrate; partially drying the template coating; and

[0014] bending the template coating to induce strain on the coating leading to formation of oriented crack trenches.

[0015] The first substrate may be any suitable substrate. The first substrate may have a suitable surface energy. For example, the first substrate may have a surface energy of 10-50 mN / m, preferably 16-50 mN / m.

[0016] According to a particular aspect, the method may further comprise treating a surface of the first substrate prior to the forming a template layer to adjust the surface energy of the surface of the first substrate to 16-50 mN / m.

[0017] The partially drying the template coating may comprise any suitable method. According to a particular aspect, the partially drying the template coating may comprise air-drying. In particular, the partially drying the template coating may comprise partially drying the template coating at room temperature.

[0018] The bending the template coating may be by any suitable method. For example, the bending the template coating may comprise bending having a bending diameter of 1 -15 mm. According to one aspect, the bending the template coating may comprise bending in a single direction to form linear crack trenches. According to another aspect, the bending the template coating may comprise sequential bending in different directions to form a grid network of crack trenches.

[0019] The separating the template layer from the surface of the first substrate may be by any suitable method. According to a particular aspect, the separating the template layer from the surface of the first substrate may comprise transferring oriented mesh onto a surface of a second substrate.The second substrate may be any suitable substrate. According to a particular aspect, the second substrate may be a stretchable substrate.

[0020] The template layer may have a suitable thickness. According to a particular aspect, the template layer may have a thickness of 0.5-5.0 pm.

[0021] The oriented mesh obtained from the method according to the first aspect may comprise mesh wire size of > 1 pm. According to a particular aspect, the oriented mesh may be an oriented conductive mesh.

[0022] In particular, when the oriented mesh is an oriented conductive mesh, the filling the oriented crack trenches may be with a conductive material. For example, the conductive material may be any suitable conductive material such as, but not limited to, conductive metals, conductive polymers, conductive carbon, or a mixture thereof.

[0023] According to a second aspect, there is provided an oriented mesh formed from the method according to the method of the first aspect. In particular, the oriented mesh may be an oriented conductive mesh.

[0024] According to another aspect, there is provided a stretchable electrode comprising an oriented conductive mesh. For example, the oriented conductive mesh may be that of the second aspect. In particular, the oriented conductive mesh may comprise mesh wire size of > 1 pm.

[0025] According to a particular aspect, the stretchable electrode may be transparent.

[0026] According to a particular aspect, the stretchable electrode may comprise a sheet resistance of 2.5-4 Q / sg at 80% strain. The stretchable electrode may be a stretchable transparent electrode (STE). In particular, the STE may comprise a transmittance of 68-75% from visible to near infra-red wavelength range.

[0027] Brief Description of the Drawinas

[0028] In order that the invention may be fully understood and readily put into practical effect there shall now be described by way of non-limitative example only exemplary embodiments, the description being with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings. In the drawings:

[0029] Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of the method according to one embodiment;Figure 2 shows a schematic representation of bending strains and the induced oriented cracks on the coating;

[0030] Figure 3 shows microscopy images of oriented cracks formed on a first substrate surface with one-direction and two-directions bending;

[0031] Figure 4 shows resistance changes under strains of stretchable transparent electrodes comprising a random-AG mesh and an oriented one-direction mesh according to one embodiment; and

[0032] Figure 5 shows transmittance of stretchable transparent electrodes and glass / ITO sample.

[0033] Detailed Description

[0034] As explained above, there is a need for an improved method for forming an oriented mesh.

[0035] In general terms, the present invention provides an improved method for forming oriented mesh, particularly oriented conductive mesh. The oriented mesh may comprise wire sizes ranging from microscale to sub-microscale, such as < 5 pm. The method may enable the formation of oriented mesh, particularly oriented conductive mesh which may be comprised in a stretchable transparent electrode (STE), giving rise to the STE having high conductivity, stretchability and transparency. In particular, the method is a fast and scalable method and the process conditions are easy to control, making the method very suitable for industrial scale manufacture of oriented mesh, as well as STEs.

[0036] According to a first aspect, there is provided a method of forming an oriented mesh, the method comprising:

[0037] forming a template layer comprising oriented crack trenches on a surface of a first substrate;

[0038] filling the oriented crack trenches with a material; and

[0039] separating the template layer from the surface of the first substrate to obtain the oriented mesh.

[0040] For the purposes of the present invention, reference to oriented mesh refers to a mesh comprising specific alignment or pattern directions allowing the mesh to deform withoutbreaking. In particular, the oriented mesh may comprise uniform over line width and cell size.

[0041] According to a particular aspect, the forming a template layer may be by any suitable method. For example, the forming a template layer may comprise:

[0042] applying a template coating on the surface of the first substrate; partially drying the template coating; and

[0043] bending the template coating to induce strain on the coating leading to formation of oriented crack trenches.

[0044] For the purposes of the present invention, reference to oriented crack trenches refers to specific and aligned patterns of channels.

[0045] The applying a template coating on the surface of the first substrate may be by any suitable method. For example, the applying may comprise, but is not limited to, spin coating, blade coating, bar coating, dip coating, spray coating, or a combination thereof. The template coating may comprise any suitable coating. For example, the template coating may comprise solvent-based or water-based paste coatings. According to a particular aspect, the template coating may comprise egg white coating, acrylic paint coating, metal oxide nanoparticle coating, or a mixture thereof. In particular, the template may comprise egg white coating. The egg white coating may comprise fresh liquid egg white. Alternatively, the egg white coating may comprise a mixture of egg white powder dissolved in a suitable solvent. The solvent may be an alkali solvent, such as, but not limited to sodium hydroxide. For example, the egg white coating may comprise a mixture of egg white powder, water and sodium hydroxide. The solvent may prevent aggregation, thereby enabling a smooth thin film to be formed on the substrate surface.

[0046] The coating may comprise a suitable amount of egg white and alkali solvent. In particular, the amount of egg white powder may not exceed 15 wt. % of the total liquid in the mixture. In this way, it can be ensured that the egg whiter powder dissolves in the mixture. Even more in particular, the egg white powder, water such as distilled water, and sodium hydroxide may be mixed in a weight ratio of 1.5:9:1 , based on the total weight of the mixture, to form the coating.The first substrate may be any suitable substrate. For example, the first substrate may be a polymer substrate or glass. In particular, the first substrate may be a polymer substrate such as, but not limited to, fluoropolymer films such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), perfluoroalkoxy fluorocarbon (PFA), chlorotrifluoroethylene (CTFE), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), ethylene chlorotrifluoroethylene (ECTFE), fluorinated ethylene-propylene (FEP), polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE), polyimide (PI), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), or co-polymers thereof. Even more in particular, the first substrate may be FEP.

[0047] The first substrate may have a suitable surface energy. For example, the first substrate may have a surface energy of 10-50 mN / m. In particular, the surface energy may be 16-50 mN / m, 20-45 mN / m, 25-40 mN / m, 30-35 mN / m. Even more in particular, the surface energy may be 16-50 mN / m.

[0048] According to a particular aspect, the method may further comprise treating a surface of the first substrate prior to the forming a template layer to adjust the surface energy of the surface of the first substrate to 10-50 mN / m. The treating may comprise, but is not limited to, O2 plasma treatment, silane coating, UV ozone treatment, or a combination thereof. The treating a surface of the first substrate enables a smoother substrate surface to be obtained, and subsequently to enable an efficient transfer of the oriented mesh. Suitable first substrates enable a more efficient transfer of the

[0049] The partially drying the template coating may comprise any suitable method. According to a particular aspect, the partially drying the template coating may comprise air-drying. In particular, the partially drying the template coating may comprise partially drying the template coating at room temperature.

[0050] For the purposes of the present application, partially drying the template coating refers to drying the template coating to an extent such that the template coating applied onto the surface of the first substrate is not fully and completely dried.

[0051] In particular, one manner in which it is ensured that the template coating is partially dried, and not completed dried, is by drying the template coating for a pre-determined period of time, such that the drying time does not lead to the complete drying of the template coating. Accordingly, the pre-determined period of time may be a suitable period of time. For example, the pre-determined period of time may be 2-60 minutes. In particular, theperiod of time may be 5-50 min, 10-45 min, 15-30 min, 20-25 min. Even more in particular, the period of time may be 10-60 min.

[0052] Any suitable method may be used to test whether the template coating is partially dried. For example, the template coating may be assessed by subjecting a portion of the coating to localised mechanical scratching using a pointed implement. Absence of fragmentation and flow-induced recovery of the localised perturbed region may indicate that the coating may be partially dried.

[0053] The bending the template coating may be by any suitable method so as to induce strain on the coating thereby leading to formation of oriented crack trenches. In particular, the bending may comprise bending in a single direction to form linear crack trenches. Alternatively, the bending may comprise sequential bending in two or more different directions to form a grid network of crack trenches. For example, the crack trenches formed may be perpendicular to the bending direction when the crack trenches are formed under tensile strain. According to another particular aspect, the crack trenches formed may be parallel to the bending direction when the crack trenches are formed under compressive strain.

[0054] According to a particular aspect, the bending the template coating may comprise bending having a bending diameter of 1 -15 mm. In particular, the bending diameter may be 2-12 mm, 3-11 mm, 4-10 mm, 5-8 mm, 6-7 mm. Even more in particular, the bending diameter may be 2-11 mm.

[0055] The size and density of the crack trenches formed from the bending may depend on different factors. The size and density of the crack trenches formed from the bending may depend on, but not limited to: the thickness of the template coating, the drying speed of the template coating, the surface energy of the substrate onto which the template coating is applied, or a combination thereof. For example, thicker template coatings, a lower surface energy of the first substrate and / or slower drying speed may result in larger / wider crack trenches being formed upon bending and with greater distances between adjacent crack trenches. Accordingly, the thickness of the template coating, the drying speed of the template coating and the surface energy of the first substrate may be controlled to ensure that suitable crack trenches are formed upon bending, depending on the use of the oriented mesh desired to be formed eventually.The template layer may have a suitable thickness. According to a particular aspect, the template layer may have a thickness of 0.5-5.0 pm. For example, the template layer may have a thickness of 0.5-5.0 pm, 0.7-4.8 pm, 1.0-4.5 pm, 1.2-4.0 pm, 1.5-3.5 pm, 2.0-3.0 pm, 2.5-2.8 pm. In particular, the template layer may have a thickness of 1.0-3.0 pm. According to one embodiment, the average crack trench width of a > 1 pm was formed when the first substrate was not subjected to any surface treatment and therefore comprised surface energy of about 13.8 mN / m. In contrast, when the surface of the FEP substrate was subjected to O2 plasma treatment to increase the surface energy to about 35.8 mN / m, the average crack trench width was < 0.6 pm. According to another embodiment, when the thickness of the template layer changed from 1.25 pm to 5 pm, the average crack trench width obtained varied from 0.3 pm to 3.0 pm.

[0056] The material filled into the crack trenches during the filling the oriented crack trenches may be any suitable material. In particular, the material may be dependent on the use of the oriented mesh to be formed. According to a particular aspect, if the formation of an oriented conductive mesh is desired, the material may be a conductive material. The conductive material may be any suitable material. For example, the conductive material may comprise, but is not limited to, conductive metals, conductive polymers, conductive carbon, metal-polymer conductive composites, or mixtures thereof. According to a particular aspect, if the formation of an oriented optical waveguide mesh is desired, the material may be an optical waveguide material.

[0057] The filling the oriented crack trenches of the template layer may be by any suitable method. For example, the filling may be by, but not limited to, wet coating, thermal evaporation, electrochemical plating, or a combination thereof. The method for the filling the oriented crack trenches may be selected based on the material being filled into the oriented crack trenches.

[0058] The separating the template layer from the surface of the first substrate to obtain the oriented mesh may be by any suitable method. For example, the separating may comprise washing away the template layer. The washing may comprise washing the surface of the first substrate with a solvent. The solvent may be any suitable solvent to wash away the template layer. For example, the solvent may be water or an organic solvent. The organic solvent may be any suitable solvent, such as but not limited to, ethanol, isopropanol, toluene, tetrahydrofuran, chloroform, or a mixture thereof.According to another particular aspect, the separating may comprise reactive-ion etching away of the template layer.

[0059] According to a particular aspect, when the filling the oriented crack trenches comprises filling the oriented crack trenches with a metal, the filling may comprise depositing a metal layer over the surface of the template layer comprising the oriented crack trenches, thereby filling the crack trenches with the metal. The first substrate may then be soaked in a suitable solvent, such as water, to wash away the template layer such that only the metal remaining in the oriented crack trenches is left on the first substrate, resulting in an oriented metal mesh.

[0060] According to another particular aspect, the filling the oriented crack trenches may comprise filling metal via electrochemical plating. In this way, the metal may be selectively deposited into the oriented crack trenches where the first substrate is exposed to the electrolyte, thereby forming an oriented metal mesh. In this case, the first substrate may be a conductive substrate.

[0061] According to another particular aspect, when the filling the oriented crack trenches comprises filling the oriented crack trenches with a metal-polymer conductive composite, the filling may comprise depositing a metal-polymer conductive composite layer over the surface of the template layer comprising the oriented crack trenches, thereby filling the crack trenches with the metal-polymer conductive composite. The template later may then be dried and / or cured, followed by soaking in a suitable solvent, such as water, to wash away the template layer such that only the metal-polymer conductive composite remaining in the oriented crack trenches is left on the first substrate, resulting in an oriented conductive composite mesh. The first substrate comprising the oriented mesh may form a conductor, more particularly a flexible conductor, and even more particularly a flexible transparent conductor. The first substrate comprising the oriented mesh may form an electrode, more particularly a flexible electrode, and even more particularly a flexible transparent electrode.

[0062] The oriented mesh obtained from the method may be, but is not limited to, an oriented metal mesh or oriented conductive mesh. The oriented mesh may comprise a suitable mesh wire size. According to a particular aspect, the oriented mesh may comprise mesh wire size of > 1 pm. In particular, the mesh wire size may be 1-4 pm.The method may comprise transferring the oriented mesh onto a surface of a second substrate.

[0063] The second substrate may be any suitable substrate. According to a particular aspect, the second substrate may be a stretchable substrate. For example, the second substrate may be, but not limited to, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene (SEBS), liquid rubber, or the like.

[0064] According to one particular aspect, the second substrate may be formed or applied on the surface of the oriented mesh. In particular, the second substrate may be formed or applied on the surface of the oriented mesh while the oriented mesh is still in contact with the surface of the first substrate.

[0065] When the second substrate is formed or applied on the surface of the oriented mesh while the oriented mesh is still in contact with the surface of the first substrate, the method may further comprise coating a liquid mixture of the second substrate on the oriented mesh surface and treating the mixture to form the second substrate. The treating may comprise curing the mixture to form the second substrate. For example, the treating may be at a suitable temperature and for a suitable period of time. The second substrate with the embedded oriented mesh may then be separated from the first substrate. The separating the second substrate with the embedded oriented mesh from the first substrate may be by any suitable method. In particular, the separating the second substrate with the embedded oriented mesh from the first substrate may be by peeling off from the first substrate. The second substrate with the embedded oriented mesh may form an electrode, more particularly a stretchable electrode, and even more particularly a stretchable transparent electrode (STE).

[0066] The method may further comprise increasing the metal wire density of the electrode. According to a particular aspect, the method may further comprise a second or further layer of oriented mesh. In this way, the conductivity of the electrode may be increased. The second or further layer of oriented mesh may be formed by any suitable method. For example, the second or further layer of oriented mesh may be transferred onto the electrode. The second or further layer of oriented mesh may be formed on a first substrate as described above, and subsequently transferred onto the electrode. In particular, surface of the electrode may be treated with a coupling agent. The treated surface may be pressed onto the surface of the second or further layer of oriented mesh,and the substrate on which the second or further layer of oriented mesh is formed may be peeled off, thereby transferring the second or further layer of oriented mesh on the surface of the first or prior oriented mesh embedded in the electrode.

[0067] According to a second aspect, there is provided an oriented mesh formed from the method according to the method of the first aspect. In particular, the oriented mesh may be an oriented conductive mesh. The oriented mesh may be as described above. In particular, the oriented conductive mesh may comprise mesh wire size of > 1 pm. In particular, the mesh wire size may be 1 -4 pm.

[0068] According to another aspect, there is provided an electrode comprising an oriented conductive mesh. In particular, the electrode may be a stretchable electrode. Even more in particular, the stretchable electrode may be transparent, more particularly, the electrode may be a stretchable transparent electrode (STE). According to a particular aspect, the oriented conductive mesh comprised in the electrode may be as described above. In particular, the oriented conductive mesh comprised in the electrode may comprise mesh wire size of > 1 pm.

[0069] According to a particular aspect, the stretchable electrode may comprise a sheet resistance of 2.5-4 Q / sg at 80% strain. In particular, the STE may comprise a transmittance of 68-75% from visible to near infra-red wavelength range.

[0070] The electrode comprising the oriented conductive mesh may be used in many applications, such as but not limited to, electronic skins, invisible sensor on skin, wearable and stretchable optoelectronic devices, wearable heaters and EMI shielding, and the like.

[0071] Having now generally described the invention, the same will be more readily understood through reference to the following embodiment which is provided by way of illustration, and is not intended to be limiting.

[0072] Figure 1 provides an illustration of the method used for forming the oriented mesh according to one embodiment. In particular, there is provided a first substrate of FEP. A template layer was formed on the surface of the FEP substrate.

[0073] In particular, an egg white coating was used due to its environmentally friendly properties and water processability for subsequent template lift-off. Fresh liquid egg white wasfiltered to remove the viscous jelly-like fraction, and applied directly for coating. Alternatively, pure egg white (albumen) powder (e.g., Egg Albumen Powder High Gel) was used to make a coating paste by dissolving the powder in water with NaOH, following the weight ratio of egg white powder:DI:NaOH of 1.5:9:1 based on the total weight of the coating paste.

[0074] The egg white paste was then coated onto the first substrate surface using Mayer bar coating method with a spiral film applicator set to 40 pm. A spin coating process at 400 rpm for 60 seconds may be applied to reduce the film thickness.

[0075] To create oriented cracks, bending with bending diameter of 10.8 mm was applied to the partially dried egg white coating. In particular, the coating was air-dried at room temperature for 30 min post-application.

[0076] The bending induced strain in the coating, leading to oriented cracks with crack directions that were either perpendicular (under tensile strain) or parallel (under compressive strain) to the bending direction, as shown in Figure 2.

[0077] Figure 3 shows microscopy images of the oriented cracks on the egg white layer coated on the FEP substrate, with one-direction bending (upper image) and two-direction bending (lower image) which resulted in a grid network of crack lines.

[0078] Following the formation of the oriented crack trenches of the template layer, the oriented crack trenches were filled with silver (Ag) by thermal evaporation. In particular, a layer of silver was deposited over the entire surface of the template layer. After soaking in water and washing away the template (egg white layer), only the Ag remaining in the crack trenches was left on the substrate, resulting in the oriented Ag mesh on the FEP substrate.

[0079] The fabrication of stretchable transparent electrode (STE) was completed by transferring the Ag conductive mesh from the FEP substrate to a stretchable poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) substrate. In particular, a PDMS prepolymer mixture (Sylgard 184 kit, PDMS / curing agent mixed with a mass ratio of 10:1) was directly coated onto the FEP / conductive mesh surface and then cured at 70°C for 4 hours. Finally, the PDMS elastomer with the embedded Ag mesh was directly peeled off from the FEP forming the STE.The fabricated STE based on oriented Ag mesh exhibited excellent properties, including high conductivity, transparency, and stretchability. Figure 4 shows the comparison of two example STEs, one with oriented one-direction (1D) Ag-mesh and another with random Ag-mesh. Both samples are high conductive with original sheet resistance of 2.5 - 3.0 Q / sq. The stretchability of the oriented 1D Ag mesh is significantly high when the strain direction is perpendicular to the Ag line orientation, maintaining a sheet resistance of 2.5-4 Q / sq at 80% strain. In contrast, the random Ag mesh showed weaker stretchability, with the sheet resistance increasing from 3 to 12 Q / sq as the strain rose from 0 to 80%. Figure 5 shows the transmittances of two STE samples with 1 D Ag meshes (PDMS / Ag-1 and PDMS / Ag-2), and a Glass / ITO sample for comparison. The STEs showed transmittance of 68% - 75% from visible to near IR wavelength range, while the ITO sample showed much lower transmittance at the near IR wavelength range. The surface roughness of the STEs was also evaluated. The arithmetic average surface roughness of a STE with oriented Ag mesh embedded in PDMS was measured as Sa = 0.24 pm. The metal wires on the FEP (before transfer) had a height of 3 pm, so the transferred metal wires were partially embedded in the PDMS resulting in a flat STE with reduced surface roughness.

[0080] Whilst the foregoing description has described exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the technology concerned that many variations may be made without departing from the present invention.

Claims

Claims1 . A method of forming an oriented mesh, the method comprising:forming a template layer comprising oriented crack trenches on a surface of a first substrate;filling the oriented crack trenches with a material; and- separating the template layer from the surface of the first substrate to obtain the oriented mesh.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the separating the template layer from the surface of the first substrate comprises transferring the oriented mesh onto a surface of a second substrate.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the forming a template layer comprises:- applying a template coating on the surface of the first substrate;- partially drying the template coating; and- bending the template coating to induce strain on the coating leading to formation of oriented crack trenches.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the partially drying the template coating comprises air-drying.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the partially drying the template coating comprises partially drying the template coating at room temperature.

6. The method according to any of claims 3 to 5, wherein the bending the template coating comprises bending in a single direction to form linear crack trenches.

7. The method according to any of claims 3 to 5, wherein the bending the template coating comprises sequential bending in different directions to form a grid network of crack trenches.

8. The method according to any of claims 3 to 7, wherein the bending the template coating comprises bending the template coating with a bending diameter of 1-15 mm.

9. The method according to any preceding claim, wherein the oriented mesh comprises mesh wire size of > 1 pm.

10. The method according to any preceding claim, wherein the surface of the first substrate has a surface energy of 16-50 mN / m.

11. The method according to any preceding claim, wherein the method further comprises treating a surface of the first substrate prior to the forming a template layer to adjust surface energy of the surface of the first substrate to 16-50 mN / m.

12. The method according to any preceding claim, wherein the oriented mesh is an oriented conductive mesh.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein when the oriented mesh is an oriented conductive mesh, the filling the oriented crack trenches is with a conductive material.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the conductive material comprises conductive metals, conductive polymers, conductive carbon, or a mixture thereof.

15. The method according to any of claims 2 to 14, wherein the second substrate is a stretchable substrate.

16. The method according to any preceding claim, wherein the template layer has a thickness of 0.5-5.0 pm.

17. An oriented mesh formed from the method according to any preceding claim.

18. An oriented conductive mesh formed from the method according to any of claim 12 to 16.

19. A stretchable electrode comprising the oriented conductive mesh according to claim 18.

20. The stretchable electrode according to claim 19, wherein the stretchable electrode is transparent.

21. A stretchable electrode comprising an oriented conductive mesh, wherein the stretchable electrode comprises a sheet resistance of 2.5-4 Q / sq at 80% strain.

22. The stretchable electrode according to claim 21 , wherein the oriented conductive mesh comprises mesh wire size of > 1 pm.

23. The stretchable electrode according to claim 21 or 22, wherein the stretchable electrode is a stretchable transparent electrode (STE).

24. The stretchable electrode according to claim 23, wherein the STE comprises a transmittance of 68-75% from visible to near infra-red wavelength range.

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