Direct patterning of carbon nanotube aerosols for high-performance flexible electronics

Patterned carbon nanotube electrodes have been widely applied in flexible electronics due to their excellent mechanical and electrical properties. However, conventional patterning methods such as ink-based printing and lithography inevitably diminish their unique intrinsic properties due to necessary post synthesis treatments. In this work, we report a facile high throughput method for fabricating patterned electrodes based on in-situ deposition of pristine aerosolized carbon nanotubes. The resulting patterned electrodes demonstrate exceptionally low sheet resistance of 1.3 Ω∙sq⁻¹ at 90 % transmittance. The electroluminescence devices with color tunability fabricated on corresponding patterned electrodes show remarkable tolerance of large mechanical deformations and extensive cycling. The proposed scalable, binder-free patterning electrode technology based on pristine carbon nanotubes can dramatically enhance the performances of flexible and wearable electronics.