Cohesively Enhancing the Conductance, Mechanical Robustness, and Environmental Stability of Random Metallic Mesh Electrodes via Hot-Pressing-Induced In-Plane Configuration

Flexible transparent conductive electrode (FTCE) is highly desirable due to the fast-growing flexible optoelectronic devices. Several promising FTCEs based on metal material have been developed to replace conventional indium tin oxide (ITO). The random metal mesh is considered to be one of the competitive candidates. However, obtaining feasible random metal mesh with low sheet resistance, high transparency, good mechanical durability, and strong environmental stability is still a great challenge. Here, a random metal mesh-based FTCE with an in-plane structure, achieved by a facile hot-pressing process, is demonstrated. The hot-pressing process enables the fabrication of highly conductive FTCE with improved mechanical robustness and environmental stability. The in-plane FTCE shows a low sheet resistance of 1.63 Ω·sq–1 with an 80.6% transmittance, low relative resistance increase (RRI) of 7.9% after 240 h 85 °C/85% RH test, and low RRI of 8.0% after 105 cycles of bending test. Besides, various applications of the in-plane FTCE were demonstrated, including the flexible heater, flexible touch screen, and flexible electroluminescence. We anticipate that these results will spark interest in in-plane random metal mesh electrodes and enable the application of random metal mesh in flexible optoelectronic devices.