Substrates for flexible electronics: A practical investigation on the electrical, film flexibility, optical, temperature, and solvent resistance properties

Abstract Designing and developing flexible electronics requires a thorough investigation of the substrates available for the fabrication of devices. Here, we present a practical study on a variety of significant substrates: polyethylene terephthalate (PET), its heat‐stabilized (HS) derivative, HS‐PET, and polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) plastic insulating films; indium tin oxide (ITO)‐coated ITO/PEN and ITO/PET transparent conducting films; rigid ITO/glass and FTO/glass substrates; stainless steel and titanium foils. We put the substrates through a range of tests these actually undergo during device fabrication to determine their optical, mechanical flexibility (under different types of tensile and compressive…