Transparent electrically conductive materials, such as indium tin oxide (ITO), are materials that are able to conduct electricity and are also transparent, making them useful in a variety of electronic and optoelectronic applications. Some of the main uses for transparent conductors include:
- Displays: ITO is widely used in LCD and OLED displays for TVs, smartphones, tablets, and other devices because it allows electricity to pass through it while still being transparent enough to allow light to pass through.
- Solar cells: Transparent conductors are used in the front and back contact layers of some types of solar cells to allow sunlight to pass through while also collecting the electrical current generated by the cell.
- Touchscreens: ITO is often used in touchscreens because it allows the device to detect when and where a user is touching the screen.
- Smart windows: Transparent conductors can be used in "smart windows" that are able to change their level of transparency or reflectivity in response to electrical signals. This can be used to control the amount of light and heat that enters a building, for example.
- Antennas: Transparent conductors can be used in antennas for radio frequency identification (RFID) and other applications because they allow the antenna to be integrated into a transparent or semi-transparent surface.
Transparent Electrically Conductive Metals
We all know that electrically conductive metals like Silver, Platinum, Copper, Aluminium are not transparent. But what if they are? How will it change the upcoming tech?
Meta (formely Meta Materials) had developed a metal based transparent conductive film. NANOWEB® is a transparent conductive film made of an invisible metal mesh that can be fabricated onto any glass or plastic surface.
It has a nanostructured thin metal layer that is a two-dimensional mesh of continuous wires. The design of the mesh geometry allows for a highly conductive and transparent layer. Due to its high conductivity, it can operate using very little power while remaining clear and transparent. Its grid of highly conductive lines allows more energy to pass through an open area surface versus unpatterned conductive materials. The metal mesh has been created from silver, aluminum, platinum, copper and nickel, but it can be done with almost any type of metal. The transparency depends only on geometrical design of the mesh and not the type of metal material. Sub-micron lines are designed to ensure there is no visibility to the human eye.
Benefits
- It cannot be seen by the naked eye, has better level of transparency compared to recent technologies like Indium Tin Oxide (ITO).
- Its performance is unaffected while bending, flexing, and folding. It can be bent and sculpted to fit an object, covering the surface while retaining its characteristics.
- Requires low voltages for operation
- Invisible to the human eye (sub-micron lines) Low Resistivity (0.1-20 Ω/sq).
- Sheet Resistance, Rs: <1 to 20 Ω/sq Transmission, T% : up to 99%
- High transmission (up to >99%) Color neutral, low haze (<1%)
Form Factor
Can be applied on most flexible films (e.g. PET) as well a most rigid substrates (e.g. glass, sapphire) including metals (Ag, Au, Al, etc.)
With claim of being low cost, NANOWEB® can be the go-to choice for many tech products.
Till then, Stay Safe, Wear Mask and
Save Soil
Comments
Post a Comment