Flexible transparent electrodes based on silver nanowires synthesized via a simple method.

De Li,Huai Zhang,Lei Zhang,Hui Chen,Tao Han

doi:10.1098/rsos.170756

Abstract

Silver nanowires (Ag NWs) with the length of approximately 60 µm and the diameter of approximately 300 nm are prepared via a simple, cost-effective, high-yield and eco-friendly procedure under a high molar concentration ratio of silver nitrate (AgNO3) solution to poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) solution. The pre-synthesized Ag NWs were analysed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and UV–visible spectrophotometer. Furthermore, the as-prepared silver nanowires were roll-coated on the surfaces of the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates. By optimizing the concentration of silver nanowire solution, the flexible Ag NW/PET transparent electrodes with a sheet resistance of 3.8 Ω sq−1 at a transmittance of 70% can be fabricated. The results reported in this paper provide a basis for optimizing the growth of silver nanowires and performances of transparent electrodes.

Highlights

One-dimensional metallic nanostructures, such as silver (Ag), gold (Au), copper (Cu) and so on, exhibit unusual optical, thermal, chemical and physical properties [1,2]
Xia et al made a great contribution to polyol process for the shape-controlled synthesis of Ag NWs [12,13,14,22,23,24]
We report a simple method without externally added a soft template and mineral salts, by a high value of c (AgNO3): c (PVP) to synthesize Ag NWs with a large diameter

Summary

Introduction

One-dimensional metallic nanostructures, such as silver (Ag), gold (Au), copper (Cu) and so on, exhibit unusual optical, thermal, chemical and physical properties [1,2]. Xia et al made a great contribution to polyol process for the shape-controlled synthesis of Ag NWs [12,13,14,22,23,24] They successfully synthesized Ag NWs with an average diameter of 100 nm, when the molar ratio of AgNO3 to poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) was 0.67 in the presence of Pt seeds [14]. We report a simple method without externally added a soft template and mineral salts, by a high value of c (AgNO3): c (PVP) to synthesize Ag NWs with a large diameter. Transparent conductive films were prepared by using as-synthesized Ag NWs

Material

Synthesis of silver nanowires

Characterizations

Results and discussion

Conclusion