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US 8,859,423 B2Granted
Nanostructured electrodes and active polymer layers
AssigneeArizona Board of Regents on Behalf of the University of Arizona
InventorsJayan Thomas, Nasser N. Peyghambarian, Robert A. Norwood, Palash Gangopadhyay, Akram A. Khosroabadi
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Abstract
Embodiments of methods for fabricating polymer nanostructures and nanostructured electrodes are disclosed. Material layers are deposited onto polymer nanostructures to form nanostructured electrodes and devices including the nanostructured electrodes, such as photovoltaic cells, light-emitting diodes, and field-effect transistors. Embodiments of the disclosed methods are suitable for commercial-scale production of large-area nanostructured polymer scaffolds and large-area nanostructured electrodes.
Claims20
A method, comprising:
- manufacturing a nanostructured electrode by
- providing a reusable mold having a pattern of nano-concavities corresponding to a desired pattern of nanofeatures;
- filling the mold with a polymer;
- heating the mold at a sufficient temperature for a sufficient time period to produce a mold containing nanoarchitectured polymer comprising a plurality of convex nanofeatures corresponding to the pattern of nano-concavities;
- providing a coated substrate having a thin film of the polymer on a first surface of the substrate;
- contacting the thin film of the polymer on the substrate with the mold containing the nanoarchitectured polymer such that the nanoarchitectured polymer contacts and adheres to the coated substrate in the absence of adhesive materials;
- removing the mold, thereby transferring the nanoarchitectured polymer from the mold to the thin film of the polymer on the substrate;
- and
- depositing a first electrode material onto the nanoarchitectured polymer to form a continuous electrode coating, thereby producing the nanostructured electrode.
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A method comprising:
- forming a nanostructured polymer scaffold that can be used for fabrication of metal and/or metal oxide electrodes, by
- providing a reusable mold having a pattern of nano-concavities corresponding to a desired pattern of nanofeatures;
- providing a solution comprising 20-40 wt % polyacrylonitrile and a solvent;
- heating the solution at a sufficient temperature for a sufficient period of time to produce partially cyclized polyacrylonitrile;
- filling the mold with the partially cyclized polyacrylonitrile;
- evaporating at least a portion of the solvent produce a mold containing nanoarchitectured polyacrylonitrile;
- providing a coated substrate having a thin film of polyacrylonitrile on a first surface of the substrate, wherein the substrate has a larger planar surface area than the mold;
- contacting a first region of the thin film of polyacrylonitrile on the substrate with the mold containing the nanoarchitectured polyacryonitrile such that the nanoarchitectured polyacrylonitrile contacts and adheres to the first region in the absence of adhesive material;
- removing the mold, thereby transferring the nanoarchitectured polyacrylonitrile from the mold to the first region;
- for each of a plurality of subsequent regions performing steps of:
- refilling the mold with partially cyclized polyacrylonitrile,
- evaporating at least a portion of the solvent to produce a mold containing nanoarchitectured polyacrylonitrile,
- contacting a subsequent region of the thin film of polyacrylonitrile on the substrate with the mold containing the nanoarchitectured polyacryonitrile such that the nanoarchitectured polyacrylonitrile contacts and adheres to the subsequent region in the absence of adhesive material, and
- removing the mold, thereby transferring the nanoarchitectured polyacrylonitrile from the mold to the subsequent region;
- and
- after nanoarchitectured polyacrylonitrile has been transferred to each of the plurality of subsequent regions, thermally curing the nanoarchitectured polyacrylonitrile.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.