Technical Field
This disclosure is related to low-haze transparent conductors, and ink compositions and method for making the same.
Description of the Related Art
Transparent conductors are optically clear and electrically conductive films. They are in widespread use in areas of display, touch-panel, photovoltaic (PV), various types of e-paper, electrostatic shielding, heating or anti-reflective coatings (e.g., windows), etc. Various technologies have produced transparent conductors based on one or more conductive media such as metallic nanostructures, transparent conductive oxides (e.g., via sol-gel approach), conductive polymers, and/or carbon nanotubes. Generally, a transparent conductor further includes a transparent substrate on which the conductive film is deposited or coated.
Depending on the end use, transparent conductors can be created with predetermined electrical and optical characteristics, including, for example, sheet resistance, optical transparency, and haze. Often, production of transparent conductors requires balancing trade-offs between the electrical and optical performances. As a general rule for nanostructure-based transparent conductors, higher transmission and lower haze are typically associated with fewer conductive nanostructures, which in turn results in a higher sheet resistance (i.e., less conductive).
Many commercial applications for transparent conductors (e.g., touch-panels and displays) require the haze level be maintained below 2%. Productions of low-haze transparent conductors are thus particularly challenging because, in achieving such low level of haze, satisfactory conductivity can be impossible to maintain.