Room Temperature Curable Copper Nanowire-Based Transparent Heater

Abstract

Copper nanowires (Cu NWs) are a promising alternative to silver NWs to develop transparent conducting films (TCFs) due to their comparable electrical conductivity and relative abundance. Postsynthetic modifications of the ink and high-temperature postannealing processes for obtaining conducting films are significant challenges that need to be addressed before commercial deployment of these materials. In this work, we have developed an annealing-free (room temperature curable) TCF with Cu NW ink that requires minimal postsynthetic modifications. Organic acid pretreated Cu NW ink is used for spin-coating to obtain a TCF with a sheet resistance of 9.4 Ω/sq. and optical transparency of 67.4% at 550 nm. For oxidation protection, the Cu NW TCF is encapsulated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The encapsulated film is tested as a transparent heater at various voltages and shows good repeatability. These results demonstrate the potential of Cu NW-based TCFs as a replacement for Ag-NW based TCFs for a variety of optoelectronic applications, such as transparent heaters, touch screens, and photovoltaics.

Microwave-transparent metallic metamaterials for autonomous driving safety

“…To enable this comparison, we selected two key metrics: the temperature coefficient, which represents the change in the input voltage corresponding to the resultant temperature change, and the sheet resistance. Noteworthily, all data for comparison were extracted from studies of visibly transparent heaters based on metal nanowires/meshes 16 – 20 , 37 – 39 , conductive oxides 12 and their hybrid films 13 – 15 , 40 – 44 (Supplementary Table 4 ). To the best of our knowledge, our work presents the first report of microwave-transparent heaters.…”

All-Solution Processed, Highly Stable MXene/Cu Nanowire Networks for Flexible Transparent Thin-Film Heaters

“…Cu NW-based heaters are operational when the stability problems of the Cu NW networks are alleviated. For example, Cu–Ni core–shell structures were used to increase the stability of Cu NW networks where the network showed high oxidation stability, but their optical transmittance was low. , Cu NWs were sandwiched between polymeric materials to produce flexible transparent electrodes with oxidation stability in another work . Additionally, SnO 2 –Cu NW networks were also reported as flexible transparent conducting electrodes which were used as heaters .…”

“…69,70 Cu NWs were sandwiched between polymeric materials to produce flexible transparent electrodes with oxidation stability in another work. 71 Additionally, SnO 2 −Cu NW networks were also reported as flexible transparent conducting electrodes which were used as heaters. 60 Besides the increased stability of Cu NWs, none of these studies provide any long-term stability assessment for transparent heaters.…”

Transparent and Flexible Mn1−x−y(CexLay)O2−δ Ultrathin‐Film Device for Highly‐Stable Pseudocapacitance Application

“…The ultrathin Mn‐oxide‐based nanosheets have been previously shown to deliver a high exposed surface area that is critical for achieving high energy density. It has been shown [ 59 ] that flake‐like microstructure of the Mn oxides enhances the faradic reactions between the active material (in electrode) and the electrolyte, thereby enhancing the specific capacitance of the supercapacitor. Furthermore, considering the XPS results which show high concentrations of point defects, owing to the presence of low Mn oxidation states (Mn 2+ and Mn 3+ ), this type of morphology is highly advantageous since it maximizes the exposure of the structural defects and thus enhances the electrochemical performance, which is directly influenced by the number of these defects.…”