Flexible Transparent Electrode of Hybrid Ag-Nanowire/Reduced-Graphene-Oxide Thin Film on PET Substrate Prepared Using H2/Ar Low-Damage Plasma

We employ H(2)/Ar low-damage plasma treatment (H(2)/Ar-LDPT) to reduce graphene oxide (GO) coating on a polymer substrate—polyethylene terephthalate (PET)—with the assistance of atomic hydrogen (H(α)) at low temperature of 70 °C. Four-point probing and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy demonstrate that the conductivity and transmittance can be controlled by varying the H(2)/Ar flow rate, treatment time, and radio-frequency (RF) power. Optical emission spectroscopy reveals that the H(α) intensity depends on these processing parameters, which influence the removal of oxidative functional groups (confirmed via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) to yield reduced GO (rGO). To further improve the conductivity while maintaining high transmittance, we introduce silver nanowires (AgNWs) between rGO and a PET substrate to obtain a hybrid rGO/AgNWs/PET with a sheet resistance of ~100 Ω/sq and 81% transmittance. In addition, the hybrid rGO/AgNWs thin film also shows high flexibility and durability and is suitable for flexible and wearable electronics applications.