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Synthesis of Ag nanowires with an aspect ratio higher than 2000 for the fabrication of transparent conductive film

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Abstract

Silver nanowires (AgNWs) are promising materials in the fabrication of flexible and transparent conductive thin films (FTCFs), which are key components of flexible optoelectronic devices. However, the performance of AgNW FTCFs is severely limited by their low aspect ratio, and the fabrication of AgNWs with a high aspect ratio remains a significant challenge. In this study, AgNWs with a diameter of 40 nm and aspect ratio of 2000 were synthesized rapidly by controlling the total molar concentration of Cl ions in the reaction solution by a typical polyol method to adjust the Cu2+/Fe3+ molar ratio. Subsequently, AgNW FTCFs were fabricated by the coating method using hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC). The films exhibited a low sheet resistance of 68 Ω/sq and transmittance of 86.70%, which are comparable to those of typical indium tin oxide electrodes. Meanwhile, a mechanical robustness test showed that the sheet resistance of the AgNW-HEC films increased by only 3.15% even after 3000 bending cycles.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the Science and Technology Project of Jiaxing (2022AY10005); Science and Technology Project of Jiaxing (2019AY11018); General scientific research project of Zhejiang Education Department (Y202250333).

Funding

This research is funded by the Science and Technology Project of Jiaxing (2022AY10005); Science and Technology Project of Jiaxing (2019AY11018); General scientific research project of Zhejiang Education Department (Y202250333).

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HZA: investigation, data curation, writing-original draft preparation, writing-review and editing, formal analysis. JYF: conceptualization, investigation, methodology, validation, data curation, writing-review and editing, resources, supervision, project administration. PC: investigation, data curation, formal analysis. TY: investigation, data curation, formal analysis. TS: formal analysis. BX: review and editing, formal analysis, funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Junyan Feng or Bo Xing.

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Ao, H., Feng, J., Cao, P. et al. Synthesis of Ag nanowires with an aspect ratio higher than 2000 for the fabrication of transparent conductive film. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 34, 2183 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-023-11579-0

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