In this paper, a highly transparent, conductive, and bendable Ag nanowire (AgNW)-based electrode with excellent mechanical stability was prepared through the introduction of an adhesive polyelectrolyte multilayer between AgNW networks and a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. The introduction of the adhesive layer was performed based on a peel–assembly–transfer procedure, and the adhesive polyelectrolyte greatly improved the mechanical stability of the AgNW transparent conductive films (TCFs) without obviously attenuating the morphology and optoelectrical properties of the AgNW networks. The as-prepared AgNW TCFs simultaneously possess high optical transparency, good conductivity, excellent flexibility, and remarkable mechanical stability. It is believed that the proposed strategy would pave a new way for preparing flexible transparent electrodes with a long-term stability, which is significant in the development and practical applications of flexible transparent electronic devices operated in severe environments.

In this work a novel strategy to significantly improve the mechanical stability of metallic microstructures on substrates by inserting an adhesive polymer layer has been developed. The insertion was performed by a peel-assembly-transfer process. The microstructures were first peeled off from the prepared substrate and then transferred to the target substrate, between which the polymer layer was layer-by-layer (LBL) assembled on the interface sides of the microstructures and the substrates. The inserted polymer layer enhanced the adhesion between the metallic microstructures and the substrate without any visible damage to the morphology or significant deterioration with respect to functions. Besides, this strategy can be applied to a broad range of microstructures, such as isolated arrays, continuous films, and nanowire networks. The proposed peel-assembly-transfer strategy will pave the way to effectively improve the mechanical stability of metallic microstructures for practical applications.

This work has developed a method to transfer a nanoparticle array from the parent substrate to the target surface. A close-packed and ordered Au nanoparticle (Au NP) array has been successfully transferred using poly(lactic acid) (PLA) as the mediator. For the transfer, the last step, i.e. removing the PLA mediator, plays a crucial role. The commonly-used dissolution of PLA in organic solvents cannot maintain array integrity. In this study, we have introduced wedging to peel off the PLA mediator. Relative to dissolution, wedging is a mild procedure and able to meet the requirement of transferring the vulnerable nanoparticle array. The Au NP arrays before and after transfer were thoroughly characterized by optical microscopy, TEM and SAXS. All the experimental results proved that the structure of the array was well preserved after transfer, at both the macroscopic and microscopic scales. Further, the transfer method was combined with layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly to fabricate a freestanding nanoparticle-array-sandwiched membrane. In the polymer/nanoparticle nanocomposite membrane, the nanoparticles were arranged in a close, ordered and single-layer way, which is hardly achieved by in situ LbL self-assembly. The distinct architecture endows the membrane with excellent mechanical properties. Buckling instability testing exhibited that the modulus of the transfer membrane is four times higher than that of the LbL analogues. This exploration indicates an efficient way to manipulate two-dimensional nanoparticle structures, enabling them to fulfill their true potential.

We have developed a new method to fabricate multilayer films, which uses prepared thin films as modular blocks and transfer as operation mode to build up multilayer structures. In order to distinguish it from the in situ fabrication manner, this method is called modular assembly in this study. On the basis of such concept, we have fabricated a multilayer film using the silver mirror film as the modular block and poly(lactic acid) as the transfer tool. Due to the special double-layer structure of the silver mirror film, the resulting multilayer film had a well-defined stratified architecture with alternate porous/compact layers. As a consequence of the distinct structure, the interaction between the adjacent layers was so weak that the multilayer film could be layer-by-layer stripped. In addition, the top layer in the film could provide an effective protection on the morphology and surface property of the underlying layers. This suggests that if the surface of the film was deteriorated, the top layer could be peeled off and the freshly exposed surface would still maintain the original function. The successful preparation of the layer-by-layer strippable silver multilayer demonstrates that modular assembly is a feasible and effective method to build up multilayer films capable of creating novel and attractive micro/nanostructures, having great potential in the fabrication of nanodevices and coatings.

In this work a novel strategy to significantly improve the mechanical stability of metallic microstructures on substrates by inserting an adhesive polymer layer has been developed. The insertion was performed by a peel-assembly-transfer process. The microstructures were first peeled off from the prepared substrate and then transferred to the target substrate, between which the polymer layer was layer-by-layer (LBL) assembled on the interface sides of the microstructures and the substrates. The inserted polymer layer enhanced the adhesion between the metallic microstructures and the substrate without any visible damage to the morphology or significant deterioration with respect to functions. Besides, this strategy can be applied to a broad range of microstructures, such as isolated arrays, continuous films, and nanowire networks. The proposed peel-assembly-transfer strategy will pave the way to effectively improve the mechanical stability of metallic microstructures for practical applications.

This work has developed a method to transfer a nanoparticle array from the parent substrate to the target surface. A close-packed and ordered Au nanoparticle (Au NP) array has been successfully transferred using poly(lactic acid) (PLA) as the mediator. For the transfer, the last step, i.e. removing the PLA mediator, plays a crucial role. The commonly-used dissolution of PLA in organic solvents cannot maintain array integrity. In this study, we have introduced wedging to peel off the PLA mediator. Relative to dissolution, wedging is a mild procedure and able to meet the requirement of transferring the vulnerable nanoparticle array. The Au NP arrays before and after transfer were thoroughly characterized by optical microscopy, TEM and SAXS. All the experimental results proved that the structure of the array was well preserved after transfer, at both the macroscopic and microscopic scales. Further, the transfer method was combined with layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly to fabricate a freestanding nanoparticle-array-sandwiched membrane. In the polymer/nanoparticle nanocomposite membrane, the nanoparticles were arranged in a close, ordered and single-layer way, which is hardly achieved by in situ LbL self-assembly. The distinct architecture endows the membrane with excellent mechanical properties. Buckling instability testing exhibited that the modulus of the transfer membrane is four times higher than that of the LbL analogues. This exploration indicates an efficient way to manipulate two-dimensional nanoparticle structures, enabling them to fulfill their true potential.