Deformable single wall carbon nanotube electrode for transparent tactile touch screen

With a patterned transparent electrode and compressive-elastic gel material, a multi-input transparent touch screen, which detects touch location and touch force, has been realised. The input device of this touch screen is composed of a flexible upper single wall carbon nanotube electrode (SWCNT), a lower indium tin oxide electrode layer, and a silicone gel layer between two electrodes. When a touch force ranging from 0 N to 5 N was applied to the surface of the upper electrode film, the silicone gel was compressed to change the distance between the two electrodes, which resulted in a capacitance change ranging from 1.92 to 3.42 pF. The SWCNT electrode on the polyethylene terephthalate showed sufficient flexibility and robustness for mechanical deformation.