A flexible and transparent ceramic nanobelt network for soft electronics

Abstract

In the near future, scientists and researchers hope to use semiconducting materials in various human-friendly electronic devices such as skin-like sensors and interactive electronics, which require them to function properly while being bent, stretched or twisted. In this work, we managed to achieve excellent mechanical flexibility in conventionally fragile ceramics with a design of nanobelt network. We engineered inorganic oxides into ultralong and continuous nanobelts via an extremely simple and scalable electrospinning process. The as-synthesized SnO2 nanobelts possess ultrahigh aspect ratios (>105) and welldefined rectangular cross-section, which exhibit outstanding mechanical flexibility under a bending radius down to 1mm and show no obvious electrical degradation after 1000 cycles of bending to a radius of 2mm. Moreover, the free-standing nanobelt network demonstrates superior optoelectronic properties as well as high optical transparency (>80% transmittance at 550 nm), which enables us to construct conformable and 'invisible' UV photodetectors on multiple flexible or curved substrates, including plastics, paper, textiles and curved/bio-surfaces. These results strongly indicate the great compatibility and potential of inorganic nanobelt networks as flexible and transparent functional electronics. © 2014 Nature Publishing Group All rights reserved.