Improvements in purification of silver nanowires by decantation and fabrication of flexible transparent electrodes. Application to capacitive touch sensors.

Transparent flexible electrodes made of metallic nanowires, and in particular silver nanowires (AgNWs), appear as an extremely promising alternative to transparent conductive oxides for future optoelectronic devices. Though significant progresses have been made the last few years, there is still some room for improvement regarding the synthesis of high quality silver nanowire solutions and fabrication process of high performance electrodes. We show that the commonly used purification process can be greatly simplified through decantation. Using this process it is possible to fabricate flexible electrodes by spray coating with sheet resistance lower than 25 Ω sq⁻¹ at 90% transparency in the visible spectrum. These electrodes were used to fabricate an operative transparent flexible touch screen. To our knowledge this is the first reported AgNW based touch sensor relying on capacitive technology.

Flexible transparent conductive materials based on silver nanowire networks: a review.

The class of materials combining high electrical or thermal conductivity, optical transparency and flexibility is crucial for the development of many future electronic and optoelectronic devices. Silver nanowire networks show very promising results and represent a viable alternative to the commonly used, scarce and brittle indium tin oxide. The science and technology research of such networks are reviewed to provide a better understanding of the physical and chemical properties of this nanowire-based material while opening attractive new applications.

Stability of silver nanowire based electrodes under environmental and electrical stresses.

Flexible transparent electrodes fabricated with random networks of silver nanowires (AgNWs) have been widely studied in recent years. This approach appears to be a promising alternative to replace ITO (indium tin oxide) in many optoelectronic applications. Many successful integrations in functional devices have already evidenced the high potential of this technology, but unfortunately only very few studies have been dedicated so far to the stability of this material. We present here a study dealing with the alteration of the electrical properties of AgNW meshes when subjected to different stresses. We demonstrate that AgNW electrodes are very stable when stored under ambient atmosphere up to, at least, two and a half years. Accelerated ageing processes also reveal that concentrated H2S or exposure to light does not cause any significant sheet resistance modification. However, the combination of high relative humidity and high temperature seems to be more critical. In addition, long lasting contact (two years) with PEDOT:PSS can induce deterioration of the electrical properties. Similarly, AgNW/PEDOT:PSS hybrid materials exhibit weaker stability under electrical stress when compared to pristine AgNW networks.