Fabrication of Fluoroalkylsilane Modified ZnO Nanorod Films for Electrode Protection of Electrophoretic Displays

The electrode protection has gained importance because of its positive robust role for the long term display quality of electrophoretic displays. A simple method of zinc oxide nanorod films prepared by electrochemical deposition and coupling with fluoroalkylsilane (FAS) is introduced to fabricate electrode protection films for Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) electrodes. The surface microstructures of zinc oxide films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, showing a regular nanorods array. After treated by FAS the surface showed extremely low surface free energy with a water contact angle of 148.0 ± 2.0°. The settlement of pigments was considerably reduced according to the reflectance measurement by ultraviolet spectrophotometer. A weight experiment further confirmed that 90% of the pigment conglutination was prevented by the surface modification. This research can provide an economical approach to improve reliability and long-term image quality of the electrophoretic displays.