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The authors reported a facile, scalable, high-yield, universal fabrication approach for creating micro- and nanoscale metallic patterns for flexible electronic and plasmonic applications through imprint-transfer of catalytic Pd nanoparticles using a reusable imprint mold with selectively adsorbed catalytic nanoparticles and selective electroless deposition of metals. Metallic patterns are mass-produced on flexible plastics according to the predefined micro-/nanofeatures on the imprint mold without any chemical modification on the substrate, which significantly reduces both fabrication costs and environmental pollution, compared to other methods utilizing electroless deposition. The excellent dimensional scalability and material versatility of this method have been confirmed by fabricating metallic micromeshes with a linewidth down to 3 μm, and metallic nanodisk arrays with a pitch of 500 nm. Using this method, flexible transparent electrodes were constructed on Cu micromesh-patterned plastic films with transmittance values higher than 75% and sheet resistance values below 0.4 Ohms sq−1, as well as high figures of merit up to 4 × 103. This method is further demonstrated in the fabrication of flexible thin-film heaters, electroluminescent displays, and flexible printed circuits, as well as plasmonic refractometric sensors.

We report stretchable metal-mesh transparent electrodes (TEs) with excellent electrical conductivity (2 Ω/sq) and optical transparency (80%) under up to 55% strain. The figures of merit on these electrodes, as defined as the ratio between electrical conductivity and optical conductivity, are among the highest reported for stretchable TEs under moderate stretching. Moreover, we demonstrate their application in a stretchable electroluminescent (EL) light-emitting film as top and bottom electrodes. EL lighting devices require low-resistance electrodes to unleash their potential for large-area low-power-consumption applications, in which our highly conductive and transparent stretchable TEs provide an edge on other competitor approaches. Importantly, our stretchable metal-mesh electrodes are fabricated through a vacuum-free solution-processed approach that is scalable for cost-effective mass production. We also investigate the fracture and fatigue mechanisms of stretchable metal-mesh electrodes with various mesh patterns and observe different behaviors under one-time and cyclic stretching conditions. Our solution-processed fabrication method, failure mechanism investigation, and device demonstration for metal-mesh stretchable TEs will facilitate the adoption of this promising high-performance approach in stretchable and wearable electronics applications.

A vacuum-free solution-processed fabrication strategy featuring templated electrodeposition and imprint transfer (TEIT) is developed for micro- and nanoscale metallic structures. Various functional devices, including metal-mesh transparent electrodes and plasmonic sensors, are demonstrated using this cost-effective and scalable manufacturing process.