Transparent and conductive cellulose film by controllably growing aluminum doped zinc oxide on regenerated cellulose film

Functional applications of cellulose have attracted large amount of attentions owing to its natural, environmentally friendly, light-weight characteristics. In this study, a cellulose-based conductive film (CCF) was prepared by sputtering aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO, a cheap and non-toxic semiconductor) on a regenerated cellulose film from bamboo fibers. Through dissolution and regenerated process of cellulose fibers, the as-prepared cellulose film featured high transmittance of 97% and low roughness of 0.943 nm as well as 117 MPa strength, which can be supportive for manufacturing cellulose-based conductive devices. Based on the cellulose film which was as the transparent substate, we systematically investigated the effects of working parameters on the performance of AZO-based cellulose conductive film, followed by a phenomenon that the crystal structure and morphology of AZO particles play decisive role on the transmittance and conductivity of CCF. With the optimized working parameters, the CCF presented low conductive resistance of 365 Ω/□, high transmittance of 86% and high-quality crystalline structure. Besides, the thermal stability and mechanical strength of CCF were also investigated. The prepared CCF is beneficial for manufacturing the transparently electronic devices with environmental-friendly merit.