Rubber materials are the key components of flexible optoelectronic devices, especially for the light-emitting diodes based on arrays of inorganic nanowires (NWs). This paper reports on polydimethylsiloxane-graft-polystyrene (PDMS-St) as a new flexible substrate of GaP NW array structures. The NWs were encapsulated by the newly introduced G-coating method to substitute the inefficient mainstream spin-coating. To further exploit the flexibility and the stretchability of the NW/PDMS-St structures, the ferrocenyl-containing polymethylhydrosiloxane was synthesized and successfully used as an electrode for the NWs. In order to make an alternative highly efficient transparent electrode, a new application of conductive single-walled carbon nanotubes was demonstrated. The novel materials and methods demonstrated unsurpassed mechanical stability of the fabricated flexible electronic devices.

Polysiloxanes and materials based on them (silicone materials) are of great interest in optoelectronics due to their high flexibility, good film-forming ability, and optical transparency. According to the literature, polysiloxanes are suggested to be very promising in the field of optoelectronics and could be employed in the composition of liquid crystal devices, computer memory drives organic light emitting diodes (OLED), and organic photovoltaic devices, including dye synthesized solar cells (DSSC). Polysiloxanes are also a promising material for novel optoectronic devices, such as LEDs based on arrays of III–V nanowires (NWs). In this review, we analyze the currently existing types of silicone materials and their main properties, which are used in optoelectronic device development.

Controlled growth of heterostructured nanowires and mechanisms of their formation have been actively studied during the last decades due to perspectives of their implementation. Here, we report on the self-catalyzed growth of axially heterostructured GaPN/GaP nanowires on Si(111) by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Nanowire composition and structural properties were examined by means of Raman microspectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. To study the optical properties of the synthesized nanoheterostructures, the nanowire array was embedded into the silicone rubber membrane and further released from the growth substrate. The reported approach allows us to study the nanowire optical properties avoiding the response from the parasitically grown island layer. Photoluminescence and Raman studies reveal different nitrogen content in nanowires and parasitic island layer. The effect is discussed in terms of the difference in vapor solid and vapor liquid solid growth mechanisms. Photoluminescence studies at low temperature (5K) demonstrate the transition to the quasi-direct gap in the nanowires typical for diluted nitrides with low N-content. The bright room temperature photoluminescent response demonstrates the potential application of nanowire/polymer matrix in flexible optoelectronic devices.