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The emergence of devices that combine elasticity with electronic or optoelectronic properties offers exciting new opportunities for applications, but brings significant materials challenges. Here, we report the fabrication of an elastomeric polymer light-emitting device (EPLED) using a simple, all-solution-based process. The EPLED features a pair of transparent composite electrodes comprising a thin percolation network of silver nanowires inlaid in the surface layer. The resulting EPLED, which exhibits rubbery elasticity at room temperature, is collapsible, and can emit light when exposed to strains as large as 120%. It can also survive repeated continuous stretching cycles, and small stretching is shown to significantly enhance its light-emitting efficiency. The fabrication process is scalable and was readily adapted for the demonstration of a simple passive matrix monochrome display featuring a 5 × 5 pixel array. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To promote silver nanowire (AgNW) as a viable commercial alternative for transparent electrodes, it is necessary to further develop industrially scalable, high‐performance yielding and cost‐efficient methods of purifying large quantities of as‐prepared AgNW suspensions. In this work, a facile, effective, and mass scalable purification method that employs a novel dynamic agitation‐induced centrifugal filtration concept to obtain highly purified and printable AgNW solutions. This unique dynamic filtration system, which amalgamates the advantages of membrane filtration, centrifugal filtration and "cross‐flow" filtration, is effective at (1) removing nanoparticles, short nanorods and organic additives from as‐prepared AgNW suspensions without producing aggregation; (2) concentrating purified AgNW suspensions to a desirable concentration; and (3) formulating printable AgNW suspensions with suitable solvents. The resulting purified, polyol‐method synthesized AgNW with a modest aspect ratio of ≈1000 and narrowed length distribution, can be coated into flexible transparent electrodes to yield a transmittance of 99.2% and 95.2% at 230 and 29.6 ohm sq‐1 respectively. These performance metrics are comparable or exceed that of most transparent electrodes made from AgNW with larger aspect ratio (>2000) but purified through conventional purification methods. To maximize the dynamic purification efficiency, a model is also developed to describe and predict this dynamic filtration process. A facile, effective, and mass scalable purification method that employs a novel dynamic agitation‐induced centrifugal filtration concept to obtain highly purified and printable silver nanowire solutions, which can be directly coated into flexible transparent electrodes to yield a transmittance of 99.2% and 95.2% at 230 and 29.6 ohm sq−1, respectively, is introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The future of electronics is expected to include healable and wearable devices and systems. To realize this futuristic perspective, several smart conductive materials possessing the characteristics of being healable, flexible, and/or stretchable, are introduced. Silver nanowire (AgNW) healable polymer composite is one of the more promising candidates for this class of material. This ability of AgNW polymer composite to be healable under practical operating conditions is demonstrated. Specifically cracks induced by both mechanical and electrical loading are demonstrated to be healed by thermal treatment. Furthermore, a fatigue test of the AgNW healable conductor is conducted to investigate its mechanical behavior, an important prerequisite for the deployment of new materials. As a proof of concept, a healable touch panel is fabricated to demonstrate its feasibility, laying a stepping stone for future healable electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]