Graphene reduces complexity and cost and of touchscreens

Published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, the advance could reduce production costs and lead to more affordable, flexible displays.

Many touchscreen devices including tablets and smartphones are made using indium tin oxide (ITO) which is expensive and inflexible. Researchers from Surrey University and AMBER, the materials science centre based at Trinity College Dublin, have now demonstrated how graphene-treated nanowires can be used to produce flexible touchscreens at a fraction of the current cost.

Using a simple, scalable and inexpensive method the researchers are said to have produced hybrid electrodes, the building blocks of touchscreen technology, from silver nanowires and graphene.

In a statement Surrey University’s Dr Alan Dalton said: ‘The growing market in devices such as wearable technology and bendable smart displays poses a challenge to manufacturers. They want to offer consumers flexible, touchscreen technology but at an affordable and realistic price. At the moment, this market is severely limited in the materials to hand, which are both very expensive to make and designed for rigid, flat devices.’