Abstract
The fabrication of transparent, conductive, and uniform silver nanowire films using the scalable rod-coating technique is described in this study. Properties of the transparent conductive thin films are investigated, as well as the approaches to improve the performance of transparent silver nanowire electrodes. It is found that silver nanowires are oxidized during the coating process. Incubation in hydrogen chloride (HCl) vapor can eliminate oxidized surface, and consequently, reduce largely the resistivity of silver nanowire thin films. After HCl treatment, 175 Ω/sq and approximately 75% transmittance are achieved. The sheet resistivity drops remarkably with the rise of the film thickness or with the decrease of transparency. The thin film electrodes also demonstrated excellent flexible stability, showing < 2% resistance change after over 100 bending cycles.
Highlights
Transparent conductive thin film electrodes are widely used for liquid crystal displays (LCDs), touch screens, solar cells, and flexible displays [1,2]
Nanotube films have yet to match the properties of indium tin oxide (ITO) continuous films, because nanotube film performances are hampered by the inevitable defects on the tubes, bundling between tubes, and the mixture of metallic and semiconducting carbon nanotubes [7]
We demonstrate uniform and transparent Ag NW film on plastic substrate via a scalable, simple, and low-cost process, and means to improve the performance of flexible electrode, i.e., hydrogen chloride (HCl) treatment and protection coating
Summary
Transparent conductive thin film electrodes are widely used for liquid crystal displays (LCDs), touch screens, solar cells, and flexible displays [1,2]. Lee et al [11] have pioneered this material and shown that the cast Ag NW thin film used as transparent electrode showed equal merit or better than that as compared with sputter-coated ITO in solar cells.
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