Transparent conductive nano-composites

#The present invention in one embodiment relates to composites composed of nanoscale materials, methods of forming composites of nanoscale materials, and applications for nanoscale materials.

#Transparent conducting coatings are of commercial use in display technologies, optics, electromagnetic shielding and many other applications. Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) is the most widely used coating, however it is inflexible and requires high processing temperatures to fabricate.

#Efficient thin film devices, including organic photovoltaic and organic electroluminescent devices have been the subject of much advancement. In particular, organic light emitting materials have attracted increasing interest in the past two decades. Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) may be either small molecule OLED or polymer OLED. Soluble light emitting polymers are appealing for manufacture of large area, low cost light emitting devices. In recent years, screen and inkjet printing have been successfully applied to this area, promising lower cost for area lighting, patterning and display applications.

#The following detailed description, given by way of example and not intended to limit the invention solely thereto, will best be appreciated in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote like elements and parts, in which:

#FIG. 1A pictorially depicts a network of carbon nanotubes, through a polymer matrix of an organic electronic device, and an aligned network of carbon nanotubes through a polymer matrix of an organic electronic device, in accordance with the present invention.

#FIG. 1B is a plot depicting the effect of nanotube concentration on the photovoltaic or electroluminescent response of a polymer composite, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

#Detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely illustrative of the invention that may be embodied in various forms. In addition, each of the examples given in connection with the various embodiments of the invention are intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. Further, the figures are not necessarily to scale, some features may be exaggerated to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.

#The embodiments of the present invention relate to novel structures for organic electrical devices and methods of forming organic electrical devices, e.g., organic light emitting diodes (OLED) and organic photovoltaic devices. When describing the inventive structures and methods, the following terms have the following meanings, unless otherwise indicated.

#An “electroluminescent response” is where a material emits light in response to an electric current passed through it, and/or to the application of an electric field.