Author ORCID Identifier

0000-0002-2051-1364

Date of Award

17-8-2025

Document Type

Thesis

School

School of Electrical & Electroncis Engineering

Programme

Ph.D.-Doctoral of Philosophy

First Advisor

Dr.S.Kiruthika

Keywords

Transparent Electrodes, Conducting Fabrics, Sensors, Supercapacitors, Smart Devices

Abstract

In the intelligent era, there is a growing demand for developing highly efficient and robust wearable electrodes through simple chemical approaches. We developed highperforming transparent electrodes using interconnected Au nanoparticle networks via a simple liquid-liquid interface approach that offers high conductivity, transparency (>85%), and mechanical durability. Additionally, the prepared electrodes exhibit tunable transmittance and sheet resistance, and the method was also adaptable to various substrates without harsh chemical or thermal treatments.

Furthermore, using Au 1L (1-layer) nanonetwork, a highly transparent breath sensor is fabricated with short response and recovery times (1.1 s and 1.3 s). The Au-1L sensor is studied systematically for various humidity changes (40% to 90%) and breath conditions (normal/deep, hydrated/dehydrated, etc.) and displays excellent stability (> 1 year) and high selectivity towards humidity. In another approach, electrospun fibers were employed as a mask for the selective etching of thin metal films to obtain highly interconnected metal networks with high transmittance (~ 80%) and low sheet resistance (7 Ω/□). Beyond their excellent transmittance and conductivity, the Au flexible transparent conducting electrode developed in this study demonstrated outstanding mechanical flexibility, thus suitable for flexible optoelectronic applications such as transparent capacitors (0.155 mF/cm²), and smart displays (defrosting/defogging/deicing).

These Au TCEs can be integrated into smart glass technologies, enhancing safety and comfort in vehicles and buildings. We have also fabricated highly conducting mechanically robust fabric-based electrodes through LBL approaches at room temperature. In contrast to several existing techniques, the study realizes highly conducting Au fabric (7-15 Ω/□) in a layer-by-layer coating. The obtained Au fabrics demonstrate excellent stability against various deformations and abrasions.

The developed mechanically robust fabric electrodes find potential applications in supercapacitors, and the Au/PANI electrodes (2-electrode configuration) offered a maximum areal capacitance of 660 mF/cm2 with a high areal energy and power densities of 58.64 μWh/cm2 and 22.86 mW/cm2, respectively. All these innovative approaches offer advantages like simple room-temperature fabrication, excellent conductivity, durability, and adaptability to various substrates, paving their suitability for the fabrication of diverse functional devices, and underscoring their relevance to current technology needs. The current research provides significant concepts in wearable technologies, nanotechnology, healthcare, and chemical engineering.

Download

Share

COinS