Approaching the limits of transparency and conductivity in graphitic materials through lithium intercalation

Wenzhong Bao, Jiayu Wan, Xiaogang Han, Xinghan Cai, Hongli Zhu, Dohun Kim, Dakang Ma, Yunlu Xu, Jeremy N. Munday, H. Dennis Drew, Michael S. Fuhrer () and Liangbing Hu ()
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Wenzhong Bao: University of Maryland
Jiayu Wan: University of Maryland
Xiaogang Han: University of Maryland
Xinghan Cai: University of Maryland
Hongli Zhu: University of Maryland
Dohun Kim: University of Maryland
Dakang Ma: University of Maryland
Yunlu Xu: University of Maryland
Jeremy N. Munday: University of Maryland
H. Dennis Drew: University of Maryland
Michael S. Fuhrer: University of Maryland
Liangbing Hu: University of Maryland

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Various band structure engineering methods have been studied to improve the performance of graphitic transparent conductors; however, none has demonstrated an increase of optical transmittance in the visible range. Here we measure in situ optical transmittance spectra and electrical transport properties of ultrathin graphite (3–60 graphene layers) simultaneously during electrochemical lithiation/delithiation. On intercalation, we observe an increase of both optical transmittance (up to twofold) and electrical conductivity (up to two orders of magnitude), strikingly different from other materials. Transmission as high as 91.7% with a sheet resistance of 3.0 Ω per square is achieved for 19-layer LiC6, which corresponds to a figure of merit σdc/σopt=1,400, significantly higher than any other continuous transparent electrodes. The unconventional modification of ultrathin graphite optoelectronic properties is explained by the suppression of interband optical transitions and a small intraband Drude conductivity near the interband edge. Our techniques enable investigation of other aspects of intercalation in nanostructures.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5224

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