Abstract
Copper nanowires (Cu NWs) are a promising alternative to indium tin oxide (ITO), for use as transparent conductors that exhibit comparable performance at a lower cost. Furthermore, Cu NWs are flexible, a property not possessed by ITO. However, the Cu NW-based transparent electrode has a reddish color and tends to deteriorate in ambient conditions due to the oxidation of Cu. In this paper, we propose a pulsed-current (PC) plating method to deposit nickel onto the Cu NWs in order to reduce oxidation over a 30-day period, and to minimize the sheet resistance. Additionally, the effects of the pulse current, duty cycle, and pulse frequency on the performance of the Cu–Ni (copper–nickel) NW films have also been investigated. As a result, the reddish color of the electrode was eliminated, as oxidation was completely suppressed, and the sheet resistance was reduced from 35 Ω/sq to 27 Ω/sq. However, the transmittance decreased slightly from 86% to 76% at a wavelength of 550 nm. The Cu–Ni NW electrodes also exhibited excellent long-term cycling stability after 6000 bending cycles. Our fabricated Cu–Ni electrodes were successfully applied in flexible polymer-dispersed liquid crystal smart windows.
Highlights
Due to the increase in smart devices, such as smartphones, smart-glass, which is a conducting layer that facilitates charge transport without blocking the transmission of light, is in great demand
Flexible transparent electrodes from Cu NWs possess extremely robust mechanical properties that are not exhibited by indium tin oxide (ITO) [3]
When the duty cycle was increased to 50% and 66.7%, the sheet resistance decreased significantly
Summary
Due to the increase in smart devices, such as smartphones, smart-glass, which is a conducting layer that facilitates charge transport without blocking the transmission of light, is in great demand. Metal nanowires (NWs) have proven to be the preferred materials to replace indium tin oxide (ITO) as flexible transparent conducting film electrodes, with a low sheet resistance and high transparency. There have been many attempts to improve the synthesis, purification, and coating of these NWs [1]. Since their conductivity is comparable to that of silver nanowires (Ag NWs), copper nanowires (Cu NWs) are a promising alternative to ITO as future electrodes, because of the relative abundance of Cu and the low cost of the solution-phase NW synthesis process [2]. Nickel on the Cu NWs in an electrochemical workstation [9], as well as in a traditional Watt bath [10], plays an important role by protecting the Cu NWs in Crystals 2020, 10, 218; doi:10.3390/cryst10030218 www.mdpi.com/journal/crystals
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