Waterborne polyacrylic/PEDOT nanocomposites for conductive transparent adhesives

A new nanocomposite for conductive transparent adhesives (CTAs) was synthesized by emulsion polymerization of acrylate monomers dispersed with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). Polymer particles of waterborne CTAs were uniform, and the average size of the particles was 330 nm. The conductive transparent adhesive nanocomposites (CTANs) were casted onto various substrates including slide glass, indium tin oxide (ITO) glass, and PET film. Upon thermal processing at 80 °C, highly transparent adhesive films were obtained with surface uniformity. The stress of the CTANs was affected by the contents of PEDOT:PSS, and a 7.5 wt% CTAN film had the highest maximum stress of 0.33 MPa. Importantly, polyacrylic nanoparticles were well dispersed with conductive filler PEDOT:PSS in water because of their high dispersity in water. Therefore, the polyacrylic/PEDOT nanocomposite had a low percolation threshold of ∼8% due to the enhanced connection between conductive channels. The CTANs with an optimum content (10 wt%) of PEDOT:PSS had high electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (36 dB) and transparency (75%) for application to electronics including displays and solar cells.