Conductive Transparent Substrate with Grouped Electrodes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for manufacturing conductive transparent substrates face challenges such as low flexibility, high sheet resistance, cost competitiveness issues due to indium scarcity, and insufficient atmospheric stability, along with productivity and efficiency limitations in achieving fine line widths and high transmittance.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the formation of main electrodes on a substrate with a connecting electrode that electrically connects and disconnects them to form group electrodes, using a conductive ink composition containing metal complex compounds, metal precursors, or carbon nanotubes, and graphene, with patterning and etching techniques to improve conductivity and mechanical strength.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If ITO is used to form a thin film in a vacuum method, then transmittance is improved, but resistance to bending or flexing is low causing cracks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a composite structure combining a flexible polymer substrate with a metal mesh layer and conductive polymer coating. This composite approach replaces the brittle ITO ceramic material with a flexible combination of materials that maintain both transmittance and mechanical flexibility, preventing cracks during bending or flexing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a flexible polymer substrate and a metal mesh structure that can bend and flex without breaking. This flexible thin film structure replaces the rigid ITO layer, allowing the transparent electrode to maintain its integrity under mechanical stress while preserving optical transmittance.
2Illumination intensity
If polymer conductors are coated as a thin film to increase transmittance, then transmittance is improved, but sheet resistance increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges two conductive materials - a metal mesh layer and a conductive polymer coating - to achieve both low sheet resistance and high transmittance. The metal mesh provides the primary conductive pathway with low resistance, while the polymer coating enhances conductivity and fills gaps, allowing thin film coating without sacrificing electrical performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite conductive system combining metal nanoparticles or mesh with conductive polymer materials. This composite structure achieves both high transmittance (through the transparent polymer matrix) and low sheet resistance (through the conductive metal and polymer network), resolving the trade-off between the two properties.
3Reliability
If conventional methods are used to form fine grooves and fill metal, then electrical conductivity is improved, but productivity decreases due to multiple processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent forms the metal mesh structure and conductive polymer coating in an integrated process where the polymer substrate is prepared with the metal mesh pattern first, then the conductive polymer is applied in a subsequent coating step. This preliminary structuring allows for efficient batch processing and maintains high conductivity without requiring multiple sequential fabrication steps for each electrode pattern.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a universal metal mesh structure that can be applied across different device types and sizes, with the same basic fabrication approach. The metal mesh serves multiple functions - providing electrical conductivity, mechanical flexibility, and a template for the conductive polymer coating - allowing a single process flow to produce high-performance electrodes for various applications, thereby improving productivity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables the production of conductive transparent substrates with reduced production costs, improved process efficiency, and high transmittance, while maintaining mechanical stability and electrical characteristics.
Implementation Method 1
a conductive ink composition containing a metal complex compound, a metal precursor, metal plate, metal nanoparticle, carbon nanotube (CNT), and/or graphene
Implementation Method 2
laser beams to process a substrate and electrode layers thereby to form patterns
Data Source
AI summary
Provided herein is a method for manufacturing a conductive transparent substrate, the method including forming a plurality of main electrodes on the substrate such that the main electrodes are distanced from one another; and forming a connecting electrode that electrically connects two or more main electrodes such that the plurality of main electrodes are grouped into a plurality of group electrodes that are electrically disconnected from one another, thereby producing a conductive transparent substrate with excellent transmittance in a process of high yield.