Constructing Electrophoretic Displays on Foldable Paper-Based Electrodes by a Facile Transferring Method

Abstract

Paper-based electronics are gaining increasing attention because of their merits of low cost, degradability, and foldability. However, the roughness and porosity of paper are not conducive to the deposition of functional layers by conventional film-coating methods such as solution processing and vacuum evaporation. In this work, a facile yet feasible process to fabricate a paper-based electrophoretic display (EPD) was demonstrated. This device combines the eco-friendly characteristic of paper with the low power consumption of an EPD by using optically clear adhesive (OCA) and silver nanowires (AgNWs). The AgNW/OCA/paper composite layer could maintain high conductivity after 1000-cycle folding tests, whereas AgNWs spray-deposited on printing paper lost their conductivity after only 400 folding–unfolding cycles. To optimize the trade-off between the optical transmittance and the sheet resistance of the AgNW/OCA top electrode, the concentration of AgNW ink and the surface energy of the UV-curable polymer layer were adjusted, achieving a figure-of-merit value of 287. The paper-based EPD demonstrated in this work has the merits of foldability, disposability, environmental friendliness, low cost, and low power consumption, presenting an alternative for future application scenarios of displays.