Abstract

Since a few years, the semiconductor industry is looking for answering to the growing demand for new electronic devices with the ability to be (inter-) connected for sharing informations with people and other devices within the framework of the so-called Internet of Everything (IoE). This demand will explode in the next few years, and will require the development of new materials and technologies that are lighter, flexible, low-power and that can be integrated in wearable devices, sensors, displays and actuators [1,2]. Polymer substrates, were recently proposed as a potential candidates for light-weight, flexible and greener electronic devices [3,4]. Here we studied the fabrication of conductive nanocellulose (nanopaper) substrates for flexible solar cell and electronic devices applications. Sputtered titanium nitride (TiN) were deposited onto nanopaper substrates using radio frequency capacitively coupled plasma (RFCCP). Their electrical and optical properties were scrutinized as a function of substrate synthesis and TiN deposition parameters. Micro-texturing of the TiN coating is proposed for optimizing their electro-optical properties. The electrical and optical TiN properties were compared with commercially available PET/ITO substrates and Ag Nanowires (NWs) coatings already proposed as electrodes for nanopaper-based electronics[3,5]. Moreover, the conductivities of ITO, Ag NWs and TiN electrodes were scrutinized under repetitive mechanical stress, using a bending machine.