Synthesis of Silver Nanowire and Preparation of Uniform, Highly Conductive Transparent Films on Flexible Substrate with Extremely Excellent Film Performance

Abstract

Silver nanowires were successfully synthesized by the two-step injection polyol method. Reaction time and centrifugation speed are critical factors enabling high length and diameter ratio of silver nanowires. The effects of the two factors on the morphology of silver nanowires were investigated in the experiment of synthesis of silver nanowires, respectively. The optimal experimental conditions are that the reaction time is 1 hour and the centrifugal speed is 2000 rpm. The length and diameter of the prepared silver nanowires reaches 5–10 μm and 60 nm, respectively. Silver nanowires were used for preparing transparent conductive film through vacuum filtration method, and then transferred to polyethylene glycol terephthalate (PET) substrate. The adhesive ability between the substrate and silver nanowire layer is greatly improved with spinning Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) on the silver nanowire network. Silver nanowire network on PET substrates showed an excellent stability, a good combination of high electrical conductivity and light transmittance. The transmittance of silver nanowires film reaches 71.5% and resistance is 65.5 ohm/sq. And the sheet resistance decreased significantly while the light transmittance had a little change when spun coated PVDF solutions on top of the silver nanowire film.