The Rice University’s James Tour lab has created thin films that could change touch-screen displays, solar panels and LED lighting. The lab’s hybrid graphene film is a strong candidate to replace indium tin oxide (ITO), a commercial product widely used as a transparent, conductive coating. It’s the essential element in virtually all flat-panel display and is part of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and solar cells. The element indium is increasingly rare and expensive. It’s also brittle, which heightens the risk of a screen cracking when a smart phone is dropped and further rules ITO out as the basis for flexible displays. The Tour Lab’s thin film combines a single-layer sheet of highly conductive graphene with a fine grid of metal nanowire. The researchers claim the material easily outperforms ITO and other competing materials, with better transparency and lower resistance to electric current. Learn more from Rice University. Watch the video.
University Chemists Develop Indium-Free Transparent, Flexible Electrodes
