US Patent 7594982 - Porous nanostructured transparent electrode

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7594982.html

There has been increasing interest in recent years for using nanomaterials to form transparent electrodes. In applications such as LCDs and solar cells such nanomaterials can offer a more cost effective alternative to conventional transparent electrode materials such as indium tin oxide. This patent from Nanosolar teaches one variety of nanostructured electrode based on a porous film which is applied to photovoltaic applications. Claim 1 reads:

1. A nanostructured transparent conducting electrode, comprising:

a nano-architected transparent porous film having a plurality of interconnected pores, wherein the pores are interconnected by an ordered network of connecting structures in the film;

an electrically conductive material that substantially fills the pores and connecting structures in the nano-architected porous film to form a network of interconnected conductive structures in the porous film; and

a layer of transparent conducting material,

wherein the nano-architectured porous film is disposed on the layer of transparent conducting material.