Fused silver nanowires with metal oxide nanoparticles and organic polymers for highly transparent conductors

ACS Nano. 2011 Dec 27;5(12):9877-82. doi: 10.1021/nn203576v. Epub 2011 Nov 4.

Abstract

Silver nanowire (AgNW) networks are promising candidates to replace indium-tin-oxide (ITO) as transparent conductors. However, complicated treatments are often required to fuse crossed AgNWs to achieve low resistance and good substrate adhesion. In this work, we demonstrate a simple and effective solution method to achieve highly conductive AgNW composite films with excellent optical transparency and mechanical properties. These properties are achieved via sequentially applying TiO(2) sol-gel and PEDOT:PSS solution to treat the AgNW film. TiO(2) solution volume shrinkage and the capillary force induced by solvent evaporation result in tighter contact between crossed AgNWs and improved film conductivity. The PEDOT:PSS coating acts as a protecting layer to achieve strong adhesion. Organic photovoltaic devices based on the AgNW-TiO(2)-PEDOT:PSS transparent conductor have shown comparable performance to those based on commercial ITO substrates.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Electric Conductivity
  • Macromolecular Substances / chemistry
  • Materials Testing
  • Molecular Conformation
  • Nanostructures / chemistry*
  • Nanostructures / ultrastructure*
  • Polystyrenes / chemistry*
  • Refractometry
  • Silver / chemistry*
  • Surface Properties
  • Thiophenes / chemistry*
  • Titanium / chemistry*

Substances

  • Macromolecular Substances
  • Polystyrenes
  • Thiophenes
  • poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate)
  • titanium dioxide
  • Silver
  • Titanium