Optimization of silver nanowire synthesis for flexible transparent conductive electrodes

Abstract

In this work, a range of factors was investigated for the synthesis of silver nanowires. Nickel chloride showed to be a promising controlling agent for the scale-up synthesis of silver nanowires. Other factors such as reaction temperature, concentrations of surfactant, precursor, controlling agent, and the effect of degassing were studied and optimized. The synthesized silver nanowire sample was applied for flexible electrode fabrication. The fabricated electrode showed to have high transparency (90 %), low sheet resistance (26 Ω/sq), low surface roughness (Rq = 6 nm), and high bending stability (withstand 100 bending cycles at bending radius of 4 mm), which satisfied the requirement for applications in flexible optoelectronic device.