Screen-printed, erasable mask on filter membrane for silver nanowires patterning and application in flexible electroluminescent devices

Abstract Silver nanowires (AgNWs) have been widely used in transparent conductive films (TCFs) for wearable optoelectronic devices due to their high transmittance, high conductivity. Mask-assisted vacuum filtration is a straightforward and effective patterning strategy for AgNWs with high aspect ratio. However, currently reported non-erasable masks result in the filter membrane being unable to be recycled, which greatly increase the manufacturing cost of patterned TCFs. Herein, we propose an improved method to construct an erasable mask on the filter membrane by screen printing polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution. The printed PVA mask is strongly attached to the filter membrane, which lead to the AgNWs pattern with smooth and distinct edges after vacuum filtration. The deposited AgNWs patterns can be transferred to the polydimethylsiloxane film by hot pressing to prepare the patterned TCFs. After the transfer, the printed PVA mask can be easily erased or cleaned from the filter membrane in hot water without damaging its pore structure, enabling the recycling of the filter membrane. As a proof, ten pieces of TCFs with square shape were prepared by recycling one filter membrane and all of them had excellent consistency in sheet resistance, optical transmittance and bending durability. Alternating current electroluminescence devices made from the TCFs were consistent in luminance, emission spectrum and Commission Internationale de l’eclairage coordinates. The erasable mask technique can be extended to patterning process of various nanomaterials other than AgNWs under vacuum filtration to enhance the utilization efficiency of filter membrane and to reduce the manufacturing cost.