Transparent conductive electrode and associated production method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9905332-B2
Application number	US-201314433314-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 2, 2013
Priority date	Oct 3, 2012
Publication date	Feb 27, 2018
Grant date	Feb 27, 2018

Abstract

The present invention relates to a multilayer conductive transparent electrode comprising:
a substrate layer ( 1 ), a conductive layer ( 2 ) comprising at least one optionally substituted polythiophene conductive polymer, and

the conductive layer ( 2 ) being in direct contact with the substrate layer ( 1 ) and the conductive layer ( 2 ) also comprising at least one hydrophobic adhesive polymer which has chemical compatibility with the optionally substituted polythiophene conductive polymer, such that said multilayer conductive transparent electrode has a coefficient of haze of less than or equal to 3%. The invention also relates to the process for manufacturing such a multilayer conductive transparent electrode.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A multilayer conductive transparent electrode having first and second opposing surfaces, the multilayer conductive transparent electrode comprising:
a substrate layer having a second surface corresponding to the second surface of the multilayer conductive transparent electrode and a first opposing surface;
a conductive layer having a first surface corresponding to the first surface of the multilayer conductive transparent electrode and a second opposing surface, wherein the second surface of the conductive layer is disposed over and in direct contact with the first surface of the substrate layer, the conductive layer comprising:
at least one polythiophene conductive polymer, and
at least one hydrophobic adhesive polymer which has chemical compatibility with the polythiophene conductive polymer such that the multilayer conductive transparent electrode has a coefficient of haze of less than or equal to about three percent, wherein the hydrophobic adhesive polymer comprises a material that includes at least one of polyvinyl acetates and acrylic polyesters.

2. The multilayer conductive transparent electrode as claimed in claim 1 wherein the conductive layer further comprises at least one additional polymer.

3. The multilayer conductive transparent electrode as claimed in claim 2 wherein the additional polymer is polyvinylpyrrolidone.

4. The multilayer conductive transparent electrode as claimed in claim 1 wherein the multilayer conductive transparent electrode has a mean transmittance over wavelengths in visible spectrum of greater than or equal to about seventy five percent.

5. The multilayer conductive transparent electrode as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one of the first and second surfaces of the multilayer conductive transparent electrode has a surface roughness of less than about twenty nanometers (nm).

6. The multilayer conductive transparent electrode as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one of the first and second surfaces of the multilayer conductive transparent electrode has a surface resistance of less than or equal to about one-thousand ohms per square (Ω/□) and greater than or equal to about fifty Ω/□.

7. The multilayer conductive transparent electrode as claimed in claim 1 wherein the substrate layer comprises a material that includes at least one of glass and transparent flexible polymers.

8. A process for manufacturing a multilayer conductive transparent electrode having first and second opposing surfaces, the process comprising:
providing a substrate layer having a second surface corresponding to the second surface of the multilayer conductive transparent electrode and a first opposing surface;
preparing a conductive layer composition, the conductive layer composition comprising:
at least one polythiophene conductive polymer, and
at least one hydrophobic adhesive polymer which has chemical compatibility with the polythiophene conductive polymer such that the multilayer conductive transparent electrode has a coefficient of haze of less than or equal to about three percent, wherein the hydrophobic adhesive polymer comprises a material that includes at least one of polyvinyl acetates and acrylic polyesters;
disposing the conductive layer composition directly over the first surface of the substrate layer and drying the conductive layer composition to form a conductive layer having a first surface corresponding to the first surface of multilayer conductive transparent electrode and a second opposing surface, and
crosslinking the conductive layer to form a multilayer conductive transparent electrode comprising at least the substrate layer and the conductive layer.

9. The process for manufacturing a multilayer conductive transparent electrode as claimed in claim 8 wherein the conductive layer composition further comprises at least one additional polymer.

10. The process for manufacturing a multilayer conductive transparent electrode as claimed in claim 9 wherein the additional polymer is polyvinylpyrrolidone.

11. The process for manufacturing a multilayer conductive transparent electrode as claimed in claim 8 wherein the substrate layer comprises a material that includes at least one of glass and transparent flexible polymers.

Assignees

• Hutchinson

Inventors

• Jacquemond Jeremie
• Roger Stephane
• Dufour Bruno
• Sonntag Philippe

Classifications

• H01B1/127 Primary

  comprising five-membered aromatic rings in the main chain, e.g. polypyrroles, polythiophenes · CPC title

• Y02E10/549

  Organic PV cells · CPC title

• H01L51/442

  Electricity · mapped topic

• Y02P70/521

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• C03C17/3405

  with at least two coatings of organic materials (C03C17/36, C03C17/42 take precedence) · CPC title