METALLIZED-PLASTIC OPTICALLY TRANSPARENT ELECTRODES

Polyester sheets covered with thin films of metal or metal oxide can be used as optically transparent electrodes (MPOTE). These new electrodes have low sheet resistivities and high transparency to visible wavelength light—better than most optically transparent electrodes. The flexibility of these metallized polyester films may facilitate their use in unusual environments or cell geometries. Preliminary electrochemical, optical and surface analytical data are presented for gold and indium/tin oxide MPOTEs. The gold MPOTE, when covered with a thin antireflection coating of titanium oxide, exhibited unusual voltammetric behavior indicative of a porous, semi-passive electrode surface. © 1979, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.