Pre-deposited Conductive Polymer Layer Suppressing Silver Nanowire Embedding in TPU for Stretchable Transparent Electrodes and Flexible Organic Solar Cells

doi:10.1007/s40242-026-6142-9

Chemical Research in Chinese Universities ›› 2026, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (4): 1310-1319.doi: 10.1007/s40242-026-6142-9

• Research Articles • Previous Articles Next Articles

Pre-deposited Conductive Polymer Layer Suppressing Silver Nanowire Embedding in TPU for Stretchable Transparent Electrodes and Flexible Organic Solar Cells

XU Xintong, XU Nuo, YANG Leishuo, ZHU Juan, LI Yaowen

Laboratory of Advanced Optoelectronic Materials, Suzhou Key Laboratory of Novel Semiconductor-optoelectronics Materials and Devices, State Key Laboratory of Bioinspired Interfacial Materials Science, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, P. R. China

Received:2026-06-15 Revised:2026-06-29 Online:2026-08-01 Published:2026-07-28
Contact: ZHU Juan,E-mail:zhujuan@suda.edu.cn;LI Yaowen,E-mail:ywli@suda.edu.cn E-mail:zhujuan@suda.edu.cn;ywli@suda.edu.cn
Supported by:
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 52325307, 52273188, 52503242), the Suzhou Key Core Technologies Project, China (No. SYG2024146), the Key R&D and Achievement Transformation Plan Project of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China (No. 2025YFHH0021), the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD), the Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science & Technology, and the Key Laboratory of Polymeric Materials Design and Synthesis for Biomedical Function, Soochow University, China.

Abstract

Abstract: Silver nanowire (AgNW)-based transparent electrodes are promising candidates for flexible and stretchable organic optoelectronics. However, their integration with low-glass-transition-temperature elastomers remains challenging because AgNWs can become excessively embedded in the polymer matrix during thermal processing, resulting in increased sheet resistance and poor interfacial contact. Herein, we develop an inverted layer-by-layer transfer strategy based on a pre-deposited conductive polymer layer to fabricate TPU@AgNWs@S-PH1000 stretchable transparent electrodes. In this design, BTSL-doped PEDOT:PSS PH1000 (S-PH1000) [PEDOT:PSS, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate)] is first deposited on a smooth glass substrate, followed by AgNW coating and TPU transfer. The pre-deposited S-PH1000 layer planarizes the AgNW network, improves interfacial adhesion, and suppresses excessive AgNW embedding into the TPU matrix during annealing. As a result, the electrode exhibits reduced surface roughness, high transmittance, a broadened thermal-processing window, and excellent stretchability, remaining conductive under 60% tensile strain and after 1000 stretching cycles at 10% strain. When applied to flexible organic solar cells, the pre-deposited electrode increases the power conversion efficiency from 14.71% to 16.22%, mainly owing to lower resistance, enhanced interfacial contact, higher transmittance, and reduced non-radiative recombination. This work provides an effective strategy for constructing stretchable transparent electrodes for flexible photovoltaic applications.

Key words: Silver nanowire, Stretchable transparent electrode, Conductive polymer, Thermoplastic polyurethane, Flexible organic solar cell

XU Xintong, XU Nuo, YANG Leishuo, ZHU Juan, LI Yaowen. Pre-deposited Conductive Polymer Layer Suppressing Silver Nanowire Embedding in TPU for Stretchable Transparent Electrodes and Flexible Organic Solar Cells[J]. Chemical Research in Chinese Universities, 2026, 42(4): 1310-1319.

References

[1] Zhu J., Xia J. F., Li Y. W., Li Y. F., ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2025, 17, 5595.
[2] Zhang B., Xu N., Wan J. Y., Li H. X., Xia J. F., Zhu J., Xu J. C., Chen H. Y., Chen W. J., Zeng G., Li Y. W., Li Y. F., Energy Environ. Sci., 2025, 18, 9550.
[3] Chen H. Y., Jing Y. G., Zhu J., Li Y. W., Acc. Mater. Res., 2026, 7, 549.
[4] Lin C. Q., Peng R. X., Song W., Chen Z. Y., Feng T. T., Sun D. H., Bai Y. Q., Ge Z. Y., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2024, 63, e202407040.
[5] Wan J. Y., Chen Y., Chen W. J., Xia J. F., Zeng G., Cao J. L., Jin C., Shen Y. X., Wu X. X., Chen H. Y., Ding J. Y., Ou X. M., Li Y. W., Li Y. F., Sci. China Chem., 2024, 67, 3347.
[6] Chen Y., Wan J. Y., Xu G. Y., Wu X. X., Li X. Q., Shen Y. X., Yang F., Ou X. M., Li Y. W., Li Y. F., Sci. China Chem., 2022, 65, 1164.
[7] Liu X. L., Le J. B., Xie C., Lu X., Tian R. Y., Xiong Z. D., Zhou Y. H., Energy Environ. Sci., 2026, 19, 791.
[8] Lu X., Xie C., Liu Y., Zheng H., Feng K., Xiong Z. D., Wei W. X., Zhou Y. H., Nat. Energy, 2024, 9, 793.
[9] Wang Y. M., Chen Q. M., Zhang G. C., Xiao C. Y., Wei Y., Li W. W., ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2022, 14, 5699.
[10] Kong X. Y., Li H. J., Wang J. P., Wang Y. Y., Zhang L., Gong M., Lin X., Wang D. R., ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2023, 15, 9906.
[11] Xiong Z. D., Liu X. L., Le J. B., Huang C. Y., Tian R. Y., Wei R. Z., Liu X. J., Lu X., Zhou Y. H., Adv. Funct. Mater., 2026, 36, e30668.
[12] Han D. X., Zhou K. K., Li X., Lv P. F., Wu J. J., Ke H. Z., Zhao W. C., Ye L., Adv. Funct. Mater., 2024, 34, 2407392.
[13] Zeng G., Chen W. J., Chen X. B., Hu Y., Chen Y., Zhang B., Chen H. Y., Sun W. W., Shen Y. X., Li Y. W., Yan F., Li Y. F., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2022, 144, 8658.
[14] Xia J. F., Zhu J., Chen H. Y., Zeng G., Wan J. Y., Zhang B., Lee S. L., Xu J. C., Cao J. L., Wu X. X., Ding J. Y., Yang L. S., Chen W. J., Yang C. D., Li Y. W., Li Y. F., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2025, 64, e202501270.
[15] Li J., Yang P. H., Li X. Y., Jiang C., Yun J. H., Yan W. Q., Liu K., Fan H. J., Lee S. W., ACS Energy Lett., 2023, 8, 1.
[16] Han Y. F., Chen Z., Fang L., Yin L., Zhang L. P., Huang R., Gong C., Meng K. Q. L., Yang Y. Z., Yan L. P., Lin J., Ma C. Q., Luo Q., Nat. Commun., 2026, 17, 4444.
[17] Kim J. W., Ou Yang D., Lu H. F., Ye F., Guo Y. W., Zhao N., Choy W. C. H., Adv. Energy Mater., 2020, 10, 1903919.
[18] Wu Q., Bai H. R., Li T. F., Fan Q. P., Ma W., Adv. Mater., 2026, 38, e15878.
[19] Yang Z., Guo Y. Y., Guo W. H., Zhao M., Wang H., Wei B., Miao Y. Q., Guo K. P., Small, 2025, 21, 2409621.
[20] Kim Y. M., Ryu T. I., Ok K.-H., Kwak M.-G., Park S. M., Park N.-G., Han C. J., Kim B. S., Ko M. J., Son H. J., Kim J.-W., Adv. Funct. Mater., 2015, 25, 4580.
[21] Liu Y. M., Lyu P., Hu J., Tang W. Y., Huang Y., Wang B. S., Xu W. L., Liu X., Zhang R. F., Adv. Mater. Technol., 2023, 8, 2300005.
[22] Zeng G., Zhang J. W., Chen X. B., Gu H. W., Li Y. W., Li Y. F., Sci. China Chem., 2019, 62, 851.
[23] Ding J. Y., Mou H. Y., Chen H. Y., Xu J. C., Sun W. W., Zhu J., Wang Y. Y., Huang Y. T., Li Y. W., Li Y. F., Adv. Mater., 2025, 37, 2420439.
[24] Zeng S. M., Li H. J., Liu S. Q., Xue T. Y., Zhang K., Hu L., Cai Z. R., Cui Y. T., Wang H. L., Zhang M., Ye L., Hu X. T., Song Y. L., Chen Y. W., Energy Environ. Sci., 2025, 18, 2318.
[25] Jiang Y. Y., Dong X. Y., Sun L. L., Liu T. F., Qin F., Xie C., Jiang P., Hu L., Lu X., Zhou X. M., Meng W., Li N., Brabec C. J., Zhou Y. H., Nat. Energy, 2022, 7, 352.
[26] Wu X. L., Zheng X. J., Chen T. Y., Zhang S., Zhou Y., Wang M. T., Chen T. J., Wang Y. M., Bi Z. Z., Fu W. F., Du M., Ma W., Zuo L. J., Chen H. Z., Adv. Mater., 2024, 36, e2406879.

Pre-deposited Conductive Polymer Layer Suppressing Silver Nanowire Embedding in TPU for Stretchable Transparent Electrodes and Flexible Organic Solar Cells

Knowledge

Abstract

Cite this article

share this article

References

Related Articles 3

Recommended Articles

Metrics

Comments

[1]	XIAO Xinze, LÜ Chao, WANG Gong, XU Ying, WANG Jiping, YANG Hai. Flexible Triboelectric Nanogenerator from Micro-nano Structured Polydimethylsiloxane [J]. Chemical Research in Chinese Universities, 2015, 31(3): 434-438.
[2]	CHEN Da-jun, LI Yao-jun. Hydrogen Bonding in Thermoplastic Polyurethane Elastomers: IR Thermal Analysis [J]. Chemical Research in Chinese Universities, 2002, 18(1): 84-87.
[3]	HUANG Zong-liao, WANG Xiu-jun, TONG La-ga, LI Bai-tao, WANG Rong-shun, BEI YOng-ping. Electric Anisotropy and Two-dimensional Energy Band of Undoped and Heavily Doped Polyacetylene [J]. Chemical Research in Chinese Universities, 1995, 11(3): 228-231.