Dielectrophoresis-based multi-step nanowire assembly on a flexible superstrate

Nanowire assembly based on dielectrophoresis (DEP) could be a useful and efficient tool for fabricating nanowire-based devices. Although there have been extensive reports on the DEP nanowire assembly, the new approaches that make DEP more facile and affordable are still desirable. Herein, we present an approach using the reusable electrodes to assemble silver nanowires onto a removable, independent polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film. The PET film is placed on the reusable electrodes, and a sinusoidal AC voltage is applied to the electrodes to induce DEP force for nanowire assembly upon the flexible film. We explore the influences of voltage, frequency and film thickness on nanowire assembly and further realize the assembly of silver nanowire arrays. In addition, the induced electric field is rotated in two consecutive steps to assemble the rectangular mesh-like nanowire networks. This reusable and facile approach for DEP nanowire assembly could provide a low-cost, precise, rapid and convenient tool for applications in the fields of flexible electronics. (paper)