Abstract
Flexible transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs) are widely applied in flexible electronic devices. Among these electrodes, silver (Ag) nanowires (NWs) have gained considerable interests due to their excellent electrical and optical performances. Ag NWs with a one-dimensional nanostructure have unique characteristics from those of bulk Ag. In past 10 years, researchers have proposed various synthesis methods of Ag NWs, such as ultraviolet irradiation, template method, polyol method, etc. These methods are discussed and summarized in this review, and we conclude that the advantages of the polyol method are the most obvious. This review also provides a more comprehensive description of the polyol method for the synthesis of Ag NWs, and the synthetic factors including AgNO3 concentration, addition of other metal salts and polyvinyl pyrrolidone are thoroughly elaborated. Furthermore, several problems in the fabrication of Ag NWs-based TCEs and related devices are reviewed. The prospects for applications of Ag NWs-based TCE in solar cells, electroluminescence, electrochromic devices, flexible energy storage equipment, thin-film heaters and stretchable devices are discussed and summarized in detail.
Highlights
In an extensive study on the preparation of Ag NWs from polyols [50,51], ethylene glycol (EG) is generally used as a solvent and a reducing agent, polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) is employed as a coating agent and a template, and AgNO3 is utilized as Ag source
The results showed that inkjet printing of indium tin oxide (ITO)-free embedded Ag-PEDOT:PSS polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) significantly improves efficiency by 250% compared with ITO-based PLEDS
As an important kind of material with high conductivity and light transmittance, Ag NWs are unique candidate for transparent electrodes applied in microdevices/systems
Summary
The influences of various factors on the preparation process are analyzed in detail, including the effects of AgNO3, polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and other factors on the morphology and aspect ratio of Ag NWs. Based on the well-formed Ag NWs, the TCE with high conductivity and high transparency is obtained, and this review will introduce several important preparation methods of TCE, such as spin coating [26,27], inkjet printing [28], and roll-to-roll (RTR) printing process [29,30]. The practical applications and the prospects of Ag NWs TCE in flexible energy storage equipment [34], electroluminescence, electrochromic (EC) devices [35], solar cells [36], thin-film heaters (TFHs) [14] and stretchable devices [21] are summarized
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