Flexible Transparent Conductive Films of Ag/Cr₂O₃ Core–Shell Nanowires as Electrodes for Electroluminescent Devices and Heaters

Abstract

Due to their outstanding optoelectronic capabilities, silver nanowires (Ag NWs) are regarded as one of the potential substitutes for ITO electrodes. However, the high aspect ratio of Ag NWs leads to their poor stability in harsh environments and easy oxidation, which are far from the requirements of actual industrial production. Herein, we demonstrate a scalable solution approach for growing a Cr 2 O 3 shell on the surface of Ag NWs, which is low cost, has short growth time, and can be prepared at low temperatures without vacuum. The covered Cr 2 O 3 shells enhance the oxidative stability of the Ag NWs. The optoelectronic characteristics of Ag/ Cr 2 O 3 NW networks remain similar to the original performance Ag NW networks (for example, before covering: 14.8Ω/sq. at 89.4%, after encapsulating: 15.5 Ω/sq. at 89.8%), which indicates that the encapsulation of Cr 2 O 3 shell enables the preservation of transparency and conductivity of Ag NW networks. More importantly, the Ag/Cr 2 O 3 NWs maintain good oxidation resistance, thermal stability, and chemical stability under various harsh environments and demonstrated good mechanical stability and flexibility by bending and fatigue tests. Finally, flexible electroluminescent devices and heaters are fabricated from Ag/Cr 2 O 3 NWs transparent conductive films to verify the practicality of Ag/Cr 2 O 3 NWs.

Aligned Silver Nanowires Wrapped in Graphene as a Transparent Electrode for Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Applications

“…Furthermore, a comparison accentuates the superior optoelectronic capabilities of the G–ASNWs against other counterparts such as Ag/oxide NWs, Ag/Au NWs, and Ag/graphene hybrid films (Figure d). The deduced FoMs for our G–ASNWs range between 500 and 600, outpacing the performance metrics of the current core–shell MNN TCs. − ,− …”

“…(c) Comparative assessment of sheet resistance against optical transmittance among random AgNW networks, aligned AgNWs, and G–ASNWs. (d) Sheet resistance against optical transmittance for G–ASNWs and other benchmark TCs such as Ag/graphene NWs, Cu/graphene NWs, , Ag/Au NWs, and AgNWs/graphene hybrid films, − and Ag/oxide NWs. − , …”