Polymer composite electrodes based on silver nanowires or carbon nanotubes have been prepared with
transparency and surface conductivity approaching those of ITO/glass and better than ITO/PET. The
conductive surface has an average roughness less than 10 nm, better than ITO/glass. Depending on the
polymer matrix selected, the composite electrodes can be made rigid, flexible like polycarbonate, or
stretchable like a rubber. Various polymer light emitting diodes,light emitting electrochemical cells and
polymer solar cells have been fabricated using the composite electrode as anode, exhibiting
electroluminescent efficiencies generally higher than control devices fabricated on ITO/glass. These
polymer light emitting devices are all highly flexible and can be bent to less than 3 mm radius without
loss of performance. With further modification of the composite electrodes, we have also demonstrated
stretchable OLEDs wherein the emissive area can be elongated by as much as 50%.
Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEA) and bistable electroactive polymers (BSEP) both require compliant
electrodes with rubbery elasticity and high conductivity at large strains. Stretchable opto-electronic
devices additionally require the compliant electrodes to be optically transparent. Many candidate
materials have been investigated. We report a new approach to mechanically robust, stretchable compliant
electrodes. A facile in-situ composite synthesis and transfer technique is employed, and the resulting
composite electrodes retain the high surface conductivity of the original conductive network formed by
nanowires or nanotubes, while exhibiting the mechanical flexibility of the matrix polymer. The composite
electrodes have high transparency and low surface roughness useful for the fabrication of polymer thinfilm
electronic devices. The new electrodes are suitable for high-strain actuation, as a complaint resistive
heating element to administer the temperature of shape memory polymers, and as the charge injection
electrodes for flexible/stretchable polymer light emitting diodes. Bistable electroactive polymers
employing the composite electrodes can be actuated to large strains via heating-actuation-cooling cycles.
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