Enhanced oxidation-resistant Cu–Ni core–shell nanowires: controllable one-pot synthesis and solution processing to transparent flexible heaters

Abstract

Coating nickel onto copper nanowires (Cu NWs) by one-pot synthesis is an efficient approach to improving the oxidation resistance of the nanowires. Because Ni is much less conductive than Cu, it is of great importance to understand the relationship between the thickness of the Ni coating layer and the properties of NWs. Here we demonstrate one-pot synthesis of Cu-Ni core-shell NWs with a tunable Ni thickness by simply varying the Cu and Ni mole ratio in the precursor. We have observed that an increase in Ni thickness decreases the aspect ratio, surface smoothness and network conductivity of the resulting NWs. However, Cu-Ni NWs with a thicker Ni layer display higher oxidation temperature. The optimal Cu-Ni NWs, which were prepared using a Cu(2+)/Ni(2+) molar ratio of 1/1, have a Ni-layer thickness of about 10 nm and the onset oxidation temperature of 270 °C. The derived transparent conductive films present a transmittance of 76% and a sheet resistance of 300 Ω sq(-1). The flexible heater constructed from such high quality Cu-Ni NW films demonstrates effective performance in heating and defrosting.

Evaporation-Rate Control of Water Droplets on Flexible Transparent Heater for Sensor Application

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Metallic Nanowire‐Based Transparent Electrodes for Next Generation Flexible Devices: a Review

“…Very few studies have so far focused on MNWs other than silver. Chen et al fabricated TFHs based on Cu–Ni core–shell nanowires, Ni being used to enhance resistance to oxidation . Li et al investigated metallic microwires and reported a transparent heater made of a Cu wire/Al 2 O 3 /polyimide composite film with high stability against electromigration, oxidation, bending and stretching …”

Flexible biodegradable transparent heaters based on fractal-like leaf skeletons

“…In the recent reports, hybrid heaters composed of metal nanowires and woven fibers ranging from micrometers to nanometers have displayed good performances 17,28 . Many polymer-based elastomers 25 , films 29 , and fabrics 30 have also been used as flexible substrates to support metal nanowires for the fabrication of hybrid flexible and transparent heaters, especially for the thermotherapy applications. Owing to their mesh-like structure, sparse metal nanowire films display low sheet resistances and decent transmittance values.…”